Work Health Safety (WHS) Prosecution — Fixed Fee
$7,500 — Fixed Fee
Category 3 — Magistrates Court plea (no risk of death or serious injury) — $7,500;Category 2 — Magistrates Court plea (serious injury risk or fatality) — $15,000;Category 1, industrial manslaughter, and District Court matters — District Court plea from $12,000 · trial from $15,000 . Covers : initial advice from the first inspector contact, review of the investigation brief, expert evidence coordination, sentencing submissions, and representation at all court dates. These matters involve large briefs and technical preparation — the fee reflects that. No hidden fees. One invoice. All fees +10% GST.
What Is Included
Legal advice at the investigation stage. Advising on responses to workplace safety inspector notices, document production requests, and whether to participate in voluntary interviews.Representation at all Magistrates Court mentions. Appearances from first return date through to plea or committal.District Court briefing for Category 1 and industrial manslaughter matters. Full instructions to counsel including preparation of expert evidence briefs.Due diligence analysis. Review of existing WHS systems, records, training materials, and documentation to build the officer liability defence.Expert evidence coordination. Engaging and instructing WHS, engineering, or industry experts on foreseeability, causation, and reasonable practicability.Enforceable undertaking advice. Assessing eligibility for a written undertaking to the regulator and preparing submissions to the prosecution authority where prosecution is not yet commenced.Sentencing preparation. Evidence of remediation, compliance improvements, financial impact, and cooperation compiled for plea matters.Plea in mitigation. Written and oral submissions addressing all relevant sentencing factors.By the Time Charges Are Laid, the Investigation Has Been Running for Months By the time a prosecution decision is made, the investigation has already run for months. Workplace safety inspectors attend the scene, interview witnesses, compel document production, and compile a brief that can run to thousands of pages — all before any charge is laid. The prosecution timeline starts at the first inspector visit, not at the courthouse.That is why the investigation stage is the intervention point. What you say to inspectors in voluntary interviews, what documents you produce, and how you respond to formal notices all become part of the prosecution brief. Those decisions cannot be undone. Sacha will advise from first contact with inspectors — before charges, before a prosecution decision, and before anything is locked in.For business owners, directors, managers, and supervisors in construction, agriculture, tourism, fishing, and hospitality across Far North Queensland, WHS prosecutions are an occupational reality. The industries operate in environments where serious incidents happen. The question is not whether the regulator will investigate — it is how the matter is handled from the first inspector visit.Penalties Under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)The Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld) creates four tiers of offence. The category determines the court, the penalty range, and the preparation required.Industrial manslaughter — ss 34C and 34D (Part 2A): A person conducting a business or undertaking (a PCBU) — in practice, the business owner, employer, or company — or a senior officer/executive officer who negligently causes the death of an individual to whom a health and safety duty is owed. Expanded in 2024 to cover deaths of any such individual, not only workers. Maximum: 20 years imprisonment for an individual; $10,000,000 for a body corporate. Workers cannot be charged. This offence proceeds on indictment in the District Court before a judge and jury.Category 1 — s 31: Reckless or negligent conduct (the negligent limb was added in 2024) exposing an individual to a risk of death or serious injury or illness, without reasonable excuse. Maximum: $600,000 or 5 years for a PCBU or officer; $300,000 or 5 years for an individual in another capacity; $3,000,000 for a body corporate. Committed in the Magistrates Court, tried in the District Court before a judge and jury.Category 2 — s 32: Failure to comply with a health and safety duty, exposing an individual to a risk of death or serious injury or illness. Maximum: $300,000 for a PCBU or officer; $150,000 for an individual in another capacity; $1,500,000 for a body corporate. Dealt with in the Magistrates Court.Category 3 — s 33: Failure to comply with a health and safety duty where no risk of death or serious injury arises. Maximum: $100,000 for a PCBU or officer; $50,000 for an individual in another capacity; $500,000 for a body corporate. Dealt with in the Magistrates Court.Recent Queensland WHS prosecutions have produced fines in the hundreds of thousands for Category 2 offences, with Category 1 matters resulting in fines reaching into the millions for body corporates and significant individual penalties.Officers Are Charged Personally — and the Defence Is Substantive Officer liability under the WHS Act is not automatic. The prosecution must prove that the officer failed to exercise due diligence under s 27. That is a distinct element, and it must be proved beyond reasonable doubt.Under s 27 of the Act, due diligence means actively knowing your obligations, understanding the hazards in your operations, ensuring proper systems and resources are in place, acting on incident and hazard information, and verifying those systems are actually being used. It is about what you did, not what you meant to do.In Guilfoyle v Walshaw (QMC 2024, MAG-00149166/21(1)) , the officer was acquitted after a contested hearing. That outcome matters because it confirms that the due diligence defence is real and capable of succeeding. Where an officer had genuine WHS systems in place before the incident — documented, implemented, and actively used — the prosecution's case on each element can be challenged on the evidence.What Changes the Outcome When you engage legal advice. Voluntary interviews with inspectors, responses to document notices, and written communications with investigators all shape the prosecution brief before any charge exists. Engaging advice before responding is the single most effective step.The category of charge. Category 3, Category 2, Category 1, and industrial manslaughter involve different courts, different penalty ranges, and fundamentally different preparation. Early advice on likely charge category frames every subsequent decision.Whether the due diligence defence is available. The defence depends on what existed before the incident — documented systems, training records, risk assessments, and management practices. What can be reconstructed after the fact carries limited weight.Expert evidence on causation and risk. WHS prosecutions commonly turn on whether the risk was foreseeable, whether the control measures in place met the reasonable practicability standard, and whether a different system of work would have prevented the incident. Expert evidence addresses each of those questions directly.Whether a written undertaking to the regulator is available. In appropriate cases, the prosecution can accept a written commitment to remediate and improve compliance as an alternative to proceeding with charges. This option is most accessible before charges are formally laid. Where it is available, it avoids a criminal conviction entirely.Sentencing preparation for plea matters. Evidence of remediation, genuine compliance improvements, cooperation with investigators, and the impact on the business and its workforce are all relevant to penalty. That evidence must be compiled and presented in a form the court can act on.What Sacha Focuses On The investigation stage is where outcomes are shaped. Voluntary interviews with inspectors, written responses to notices, and document production can all influence what ends up in the prosecution brief — and what does not. Sacha will advise from first contact on what to engage with, what to preserve, and how to respond, or whether to respond at all. That advice is time-sensitive: the opportunity to influence the brief closes once investigation ends.For officer liability matters, the due diligence defence is the analysis. The question is what evidence of active WHS systems existed before the incident — not what the officer intended or believed, but what was documented, implemented, and verifiably in use. Sacha works through the available records, training materials, and management processes to build that analysis from the evidence that exists, understanding that the Guilfoyle acquittal demonstrates what a properly prepared defence can achieve.For Category 1 and industrial manslaughter matters, the charge is tried before a jury in the District Court, and every element must be proved beyond reasonable doubt. The prosecution case in those matters is expert-heavy — foreseeability, causation, and reasonable practicability are all in contest. Sacha will prepare expert evidence to address each element directly, and where the evidence supports a jury trial, that is the path we prepare for.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
I received a notice from a workplace safety inspector — do I have to comply? Inspectors have broad powers to issue improvement and prohibition notices and to require documents and interviews. Whether and how to respond requires legal advice — what you say and produce becomes part of the investigation brief. Call before you respond to any formal request. Is industrial manslaughter a separate charge from Category 1? Yes. Industrial manslaughter under Part 2A of the WHS Act requires proof that the PCBU or officer negligently caused a death. Category 1 under s 31 involves reckless or negligent conduct creating a risk of death or serious injury — the death does not have to have occurred. They are different charges with different elements and different courts. Can individual managers and supervisors be charged — not just the company? Yes. Any person who is a PCBU, officer, or worker can be charged depending on the offence category. For industrial manslaughter, only PCBUs (business owners or employers) and senior officers or executive officers can be charged — workers cannot. What is the due diligence defence? Under s 27 of the WHS Act, officers must exercise due diligence — actively knowing WHS obligations, understanding operations and hazards, ensuring proper resources and systems, acting on incident information, and verifying those systems are in use. The prosecution must prove the officer failed. In Guilfoyle v Walshaw (QMC, May 2024) , the officer was acquitted on this basis after a contested hearing. Will we face prosecution if we self-reported the incident immediately? The prosecutor considers cooperation and early reporting in the prosecution decision and in any sentencing outcome. It does not prevent prosecution where the evidence supports a charge, but it is a relevant factor at both stages.