Defence Publishes Court-Ordered Notice Over Psychosocial Risk in Performance Management

The Department of Defence has published a court-ordered public notice setting out its conviction under the Commonwealth WHS Act, in a prosecution brought by Comcare after the death by suicide of an RAAF member at Williamtown in 2020. Defence pleaded guilty and was fined $188,000, with a reparation order and an adverse publicity order. The admitted failure was specific: supervisors using a draft performance management procedure were not trained that managing underperformance can itself be a psychosocial hazard, how to identify that risk, or when to refer a worker for medical assessment and pause the process. If this raises concerns for you, Lifeline is available on 13 11 14.