Where an employer is charged with a deemed breach of a general duty under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic) based on non-compliance with a prescribed compliance regulation, the elements of the offence are defined by the terms of the regulation, not the parent statutory duty. No question arises about the scope of the employer's 'undertaking' or what was 'reasonably practicable'. A charge of deemed breach should not recite the terms of the parent provision but should identify the offence as a breach of the parent provision and describe the non-compliance in the words of the regulation.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 3 later cases that cite this judgment.