West Australian commerce minister Simon O’Brien has welcomed the news that NSW will not implement the national OH&S laws.
He stated that NSW has come to a similar conclusion as WA on the timing of the harmonisation laws.
The NSW Government said that the implementation of these laws is not attainable by 1 January next year.
"They now join us and Victoria in the sensible decision to wait until we have all the facts," O’Brien said.
"This means the States covering the vast majority of Australia’s workers for OH&S have had to place the process on hold.
"I wrote to the Federal Minister for Workplace Relations Senator Chris Evans last month to inform him that WA had not been given sufficient time to analyse the full impact of the model Work Health and Safety Regulations.
O’Brien said the Federal Government had not met the timelines it set for providing information about the new laws and their impact on WA businesses.
"The WA Government made the responsible decision to delay implementation to allow a reasonable time to analyse that impact.
"The decision by the NSW Government supports WA’s stance that changes to the State’s already strong work health and safety laws should not be considered until we have properly assessed the effectiveness and potential impact of the Federal Government’s proposals."
This follows Minister for Finance and Services Greg Pearce and Attorney General Greg Smith announcing NSW has taken the next step towards delivering its commitment to national Work Health and Safety laws on Friday.