Kalidonis NT Pty Ltd v Work Health Authority

[2025] NTSC 28

Supreme Court of the Northern Territory

Built by Barristers,
For Australian Law.

1. Work Health and Safety (National Uniform Legislation) Act 2011 (NT) ss 18, 19, 32
1. Return to Work Act 1986 (NT) ss 3, 3A, 52, 53, 62, 64, 65, 70, 71, 72, 126A
1. Return to Work Regulations 1986 (NT)

An employer's duty under s 19 of the WHS Act to ensure worker safety so far as reasonably practicable is not discharged by oral directions to a specific worker where the employer knows that worker has a propensity for non-compliance; reasonably practicable measures in such circumstances include documented safety procedures communicated to all workers, unequivocal directions to all workers, effective disciplinary consequences, and active monitoring and supervision of the hazardous activity.
A worker's unauthorised and disobedient conduct does not relieve the employer of liability under s 32 of the WHS Act where the risk of that conduct was foreseeable given the worker's known history of non-compliance, and the employer failed to implement systemic measures — beyond personal oral instructions — to address that foreseeable risk.
The knowledge of a site manager or other employee responsible for workplace safety is attributable to the employer body corporate for the purposes of assessing what the employer knew or ought to have known about workplace hazards, even where the sole director was not personally aware of the relevant conduct.