Work Health and Safety Act 2012

A health and safety representative is entitled to take at least the prescribed number of days per year off work for the purposes of attending a course of training in work health and safety that is—

approved by the regulator; and

a course that the health and safety representative is entitled under the regulations to attend; and

subject to subsection (6), chosen by the health and safety representative, in consultation with the person conducting the relevant business or undertaking.

The person conducting a business or undertaking must, at the request of a health and safety representative for a work group for that business or undertaking, allow the health and safety representative to attend a course of training under subsection (1) (after undertaking the consultation referred to in subsection (1)(c)).

The person conducting the business or undertaking must—

as soon as practicable within the period of 3 months after the request is made, allow the health and safety representative time off work to attend the course of training; and

pay the course fees and any other reasonable costs associated with the health and safety representative's attendance at the course of training.

If—

a health and safety representative represents a work group of the workers of more than one business or undertaking; and

the person conducting any of those businesses or undertakings has complied with this section in relation to the representative, each of the persons conducting those businesses or undertakings is to be taken to have complied with this section in relation to the representative.

Any time that a health and safety representative is given off work to attend the course of training must be with the pay that he or she would otherwise be entitled to receive for performing his or her normal duties during that period.

If agreement cannot be reached between the person conducting the business or undertaking and the health and safety representative within the time required by subsection (3) as to the matters set out in subsections (1)(c) and (3), either party may ask the regulator to appoint an inspector to decide the matter.

The inspector may decide the matter in accordance with this section.

A person conducting a business or undertaking must allow a health and safety representative to attend a course decided by the inspector and pay the costs decided by the inspector under subsection (7).

in the case of an individual—$10 000;

in the case of a body corporate—$50 000.

For the purposes of this section, the prescribed number of days, in relation to a health and safety representative, is—

during the first year of the health and safety representative's term of office—5 days; and

during the second year of the health and safety representative's term of office—3 days; and

during the third year of the health and safety representative's term of office—2 days, (and if the health and safety representative is re‑elected at the end of a term of office then paragraphs (a),

will again apply during that new term of office).