NT Maintains Local Rules Amid National Changes

 There is a divergence between national incident‑notification policy and what the Northern Territory regulator is actually enforcing right now, and inspectors in the Territory will act on the current Territory regime rather than the national model amendments.

Right now the Northern Territory’s WHS regime and notification rules remain in force as written under the Territory’s Work Health and Safety (National Uniform Legislation) Act 2011 and have not yet adopted the Safe Work Australia model incident‑notification amendments published 05 Dec 25. The NT WorkSafe site explicitly notes that the model changes do not apply until each jurisdiction adopts them.

Under the current NT notification regime PCBUs must:

• Notify NT WorkSafe of a notifiable incident immediately after becoming aware. This includes deaths, serious injuries or illnesses and dangerous incidents as defined in the WHS (NUL) Act. Inspectors will expect proof of notification and may prosecute failures to notify.

• Preserve the incident scene until an inspector arrives or directs otherwise.

• Use the NT WorkSafe online form, downloadable form or phone notification (1800 019 115 for serious injury/death).

• Provide any additional notifications required such as asbestos removal work before commencement, lead risk work, abandoned tanks and HSR elections.

The model WHS Act amendments published 05 Dec 25 broaden national definitions of notifiable incidents (e.g., including mobile plant incidents, violent incidents, suicides and extended absences), but these don’t apply in the Territory until adopted locally.

NT WorkSafe continues to actively publish safety alerts and enforcement outcomes, including a recent alert on serious injury from a falling excavator bucket and a fine against a garden maintenance company over a refuelling fireball incident.

Separately, electrical compliance rules are changing from 01 Jan 26. A technical update on the NT WorkSafe site clarifies that the requirement for a Certificate of Compliance for like‑for‑like electrical replacements has been removed for 2026, though broader CoC obligations and compliance duties remain under the Electrical Safety Act.

In practice, this means that NT inspectors will still check local incident notifications under the existing WHS law, look for contemporaneous scene preservation and notification records, and expect evidence of safety alerts, corrective actions, plant registration and electrical compliance certificates where applicable.