People at Work (PAW) Survey Decommissioning:
What Australian Employers Need to Know
The national People at Work (PAW) psychosocial risk survey platform is being decommissioned. If your organisation has been using PAW to assess psychosocial hazards, here is what you need to do and by when.
This page documents publicly available information about the People at Work (PAW) psychosocial risk survey platform decommissioning. All dates, deadlines, and regulatory guidance are sourced from official communications by the Queensland Office of Industrial Relations and Safe Work Australia (March 2026). This page does not constitute legal advice. PsychProof has no affiliation with the People at Work survey or the Queensland Office of Industrial Relations.
The PAW Survey Is Being Retired
The People at Work (PAW) survey — developed jointly by Safe Work Australia and state and territory workplace health and safety regulators — has been the primary government-endorsed tool for assessing psychosocial risks in Australian workplaces since its launch in 2020.
In March 2026, the Queensland Office of Industrial Relations confirmed that the PAW platform will be permanently decommissioned, with access ending on 2 October 2026.
Historical Impact
"Since its launch, PAW helped approximately 5,000 Australian businesses assess psychosocial risks, with more than 160,000 individual workers participating in surveys."
Why PAW is being decommissioned:
Legislative Gaps
Changes in legislation revealed that PAW does not adequately address all required psychosocial hazards — specifically sexual harassment and isolated or remote work, both of which are now explicitly covered under the Model Code of Practice.
Declining Engagement
A gradual decline in staff response rates reduced the reliability and impact of survey results over time.
Limited Actionability
Users found that PAW's post-survey reports lacked sufficient detail to support targeted action and meaningful organisational change.
Critical Deadlines for PAW Users
Important dates to maintain your compliance trail.
New registrations close
Final date for new accounts or organisations to register on the PAW platform. Act before this date if your organisation has not yet registered and intends to use PAW.
New surveys close
Final date for new surveys to be launched on the PAW platform. Any surveys not launched before this date cannot be created.
Platform access ends
Final date for all organisations to access the PAW platform. After this date, the platform will be permanently shut down and all data removed. Export your reports before this date.
Immediate Action Required
"After 2 October 2026, all organisational data will be removed from the PAW platform. Raw data will not be available for download. Export your reports now."
Exporting Your PAW Reports — Do This Now
The Queensland Office of Industrial Relations has published guidance on how to export your organisation's PAW reports before the platform closes. We strongly recommend doing this immediately rather than waiting — do not risk losing your organisation's psychosocial assessment history.
Official Resources
Step-by-Step Export Process
Log in to your account
Access the PAW platform at peopleatwork.gov.au
Navigate to Reports
Locate your organisation's Reports section in the sidebar
Download PDF Reports
Extract all available reports using the OIR methodology guide
Secure Storage
Save reports into your organisation's document management system
Record Export Details
Log the date and types of reports extracted for your WHS history
Important Note on Raw Data
"Raw survey response data will not be available for download. Only reports generated through the platform's reporting methodology can be extracted to protect respondent privacy."
Jurisdictional Contact List
| Jurisdiction | Email Contact | Official Website |
|---|---|---|
| QLD | peopleatwork@oir.qld.gov.au | worksafe.qld.gov.au |
| NSW | psychhealth@safework.nsw.gov.au | safework.nsw.gov.au |
| VIC | research@worksafe.vic.gov.au | worksafe.vic.gov.au |
| WA | hwsa.paw.wa@lgirs.wa.gov.au | worksafe.wa.gov.au |
| SA | help.safework@sa.gov.au | safework.sa.gov.au |
| TAS | wstinfo@justice.tas.gov.au | worksafe.tas.gov.au |
| ACT | worksafe@worksafe.act.gov.au | worksafe.act.gov.au |
| NT | ntworksafe@nt.gov.au | worksafe.nt.gov.au |
| Comcare | research@comcare.gov.au | comcare.gov.au |
Your Legal Obligations
Remain Unchanged
The decommissioning of PAW does not change your organisation's obligations under Australian WHS legislation. WHS Duty of Care is continuous — it is not defined by the availability of a specific government survey.
Regulator Clarification
"Based on official guidance released in March 2026, the removal of the PAW survey platform does not remove or reduce an employer's legal obligations. Workplace psychosocial risk management remains an ongoing duty, not a one-off activity or a single survey event."
The Mandatory WHS Process
Identify
Formally identify psychosocial hazards in the workplace
Assess
Assess the risk those hazards create for workers
Implement
Implement controls to eliminate or minimise identified risk
Review
Review whether controls are actually effective over time
Consult
Consult workers at every phase of this compliance cycle
"A survey conducted once every one to two years does not satisfy the ongoing obligation to identify, assess, control, and review psychosocial hazards as they arise."
The Gap PAW Was Never
Designed to Fill
PAW was a hazard identification tool. It helped organisations understand what hazards were present. What it never designed to do — and what legislation requires — is document what organisations did about those hazards.
Investigation Reality check
WorkSafe investigators do not ask whether you ran a PAW survey. They ask for the evidence chain.
Compliance Verification
Regulator Inspection Query
When did you formally identify these hazards?
Who was consulted — and what did they say?
What controls were implemented and when?
Were those controls reviewed for effectiveness?
Can you produce a verifiable record of all of the above?
PAW Evidence Gap Detected