Legal Register Australia — Free WHS Legal Register Generator
Tell us where you operate and what you do — we'll tailor an Australian WHS legal register covering QLD, NSW, VIC, SA, WA, TAS, NT and the ACT, and let you export it to CSV.
Built for Australian businesses
A legal register tailored to your state, your industry and your work
A WHS legal register is the controlled list of Acts, Regulations and Codes of Practice that apply to your business. Spire Safety's free generator turns Australia's harmonised WHS framework — and Victoria's separate OHS regime — into a register tailored to the states you operate in and the work you actually do.
We maintain the master Australian legal register inside the Spire Safety App and serve a live, read-only copy here. Every row links back to the official publisher, so you can verify currency at the source. When you're ready to embed your register into a full safety management system, our WHS management systems and ISO 45001 consulting services pick up where the tool stops.
Covers every Australian state and territory
Pick one jurisdiction or several — the generator pulls the right Acts, Regulations and Codes of Practice for each. Whether you're searching for a legal register Australia wide, or something state-specific, you're covered:
Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld), WHS Regulation 2011 and Queensland Codes of Practice administered by WorkSafe Queensland.
Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW) and supporting Regulation, with Codes of Practice approved by SafeWork NSW.
Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic), OHS Regulations 2017 and Victorian compliance codes published by WorkSafe Victoria.
Work Health and Safety Act 2012 (SA), WHS Regulations 2012 and SafeWork SA Codes of Practice.
Work Health and Safety Act 2020 (WA), WHS (General) Regulations 2022 and WorkSafe WA Codes of Practice.
Work Health and Safety Act 2012 (Tas), WHS Regulations 2022 and Codes of Practice approved by WorkSafe Tasmania.
Work Health and Safety (National Uniform Legislation) Act 2011 and supporting Regulations administered by NT WorkSafe.
Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (ACT), WHS Regulation 2011 and ACT-approved Codes of Practice from WorkSafe ACT.
Why your business needs a WHS legal register
Meet your duty under the WHS Act
Every PCBU must identify and comply with the WHS laws that apply to its work. A current register is the easiest way to evidence that to a regulator, auditor or insurer.
Audit-ready for ISO 45001
ISO 45001 clause 6.1.3 requires you to determine and have access to applicable legal requirements. A controlled legal register is how most certified businesses do it.
Win work with bigger clients
Prequalification systems like Avetta, Cm3 and ISNetworld routinely ask for evidence that your business tracks its WHS legal obligations. A maintained register answers that question in one document.
How to use this legal register generator
- 1
Pick your jurisdictions
Select one or more states and territories. The tool only pulls instruments that apply where you actually work.
- 2
Describe your industry and work
Tell us what your business does — construction, manufacturing, healthcare, transport, professional services. The more specific you are, the tighter the register.
- 3
Generate and review
We mark core WHS Acts, Regulations and Codes of Practice as always applying. Items the AI is less certain about are flagged so you can keep or remove them in one click.
- 4
Export, share or take it further
Download a CSV, save a shareable link, or talk to a Spire Safety consultant about embedding the register in a full WHS management system.
Need more than a register?
Spire Safety helps Australian businesses turn a legal register into a working safety management system, audit-ready evidence and ISO 45001 certification. Managing chemicals too? Build a free SDS register alongside this one.
Legal register FAQs
01What is a legal register?
A legal register is a controlled list of the Acts, Regulations and Codes of Practice that apply to a business. For WHS, it sets out the work health and safety laws your operations need to comply with in each Australian state or territory you work in, and gives you one place to track currency, ownership and evidence of compliance.
02Why do I need a legal register?
A legal register is the foundation of an ISO 45001 safety management system, and it is one of the first documents auditors ask for. It demonstrates that your business has identified its WHS legal obligations, assigned responsibility for them, and has a process to keep them current — which is a requirement of the model WHS Act in every harmonised Australian jurisdiction.
03What should a WHS legal register include?
At minimum: the title and jurisdiction of each instrument (Act, Regulation, Code of Practice), the responsible person, a link to the source publisher, a short note on how it applies to your business, the date last reviewed, and the next review date. Many registers also record evidence of compliance and any related risks or controls.
04How often should I update my legal register?
Best practice is to review your legal register at least every six to twelve months, and whenever your scope of work, sites, jurisdictions or activities change. You should also review it when a regulator publishes a new or amended Act, Regulation or Code of Practice that affects your industry.
05Who is responsible for maintaining the legal register?
Under the model WHS Act, the duty sits with the PCBU (Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking). In practice, the WHS Manager, HSEQ Manager or business owner usually maintains the register, often with support from a WHS consultant for the legal review.
06Is a legal register the same across Australian states?
No. While most states and territories have adopted the model WHS Act, Victoria still operates under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004, and Western Australia adopted the model laws later with its own variations. Codes of Practice and supporting regulations also differ between jurisdictions, so a register must be tailored to where you actually work.