Workplace Watch
13 October 2025| 
Catherine advises businesses on issues relating to employment and safety in the workplace. Because she understands the industries she works with so well, she is able to anticipate and quickly come up with effective solutions for CEOs, Managing Directors, HR executives, safety professionals and in-house counsel. Catherine is also the Managing Partner of our Newcastle office.
Welcome to the inaugural edition of Workplace Watch, where we provide concise and insightful updates on the evolving landscape of employment and work health and safety law.
Our feature article is an interview with the Hon. Sophie Cotsis, MP, the NSW Minister for Industrial Relations and Workplace Health and Safety. The Minister discusses the goals of recent legislative changes to WHS laws and provides some personal insights into why she is so passionate about her role.
Other topics we explore in this issue include:
- Key considerations when an employee makes an unfair dismissal claim alongside a workers' compensation claim for a psychological injury which prevents them from working.
- The introduction of a new statutory tort for serious invasions of privacy and strategies to mitigate the risks.
- Recommendations from the Victorian Sentencing Advisory Council’s review of Occupational Health and Safety offence sentencing.
- The impact of the proactive duty to manage psychosocial safety on workplace investigations.
- What the NSW Government’s June 2025 legislative reforms to the WHS Act and IR Act will mean in practice.
- The rapid rise of AI and automated decision-making in the workplace— examining both opportunities and risks for employers and workers.
- A case on absenteeism that raises the question: How many days off is too many?
We hope you find this edition informative and thought-provoking as you navigate the shifting landscape of workplace law. If there are future topics you would like to see covered, please do not hesitate to contact me.
