NSW honours workers lost on International Day of Mourning

The commemoration recognises workers who did not return home and the continuing grief experienced by their families, friends and colleagues. The government acknowledged the enduring impact of those losses and renewed its commitment to reducing workplace incidents and deaths.

Minister of Work Health and Safety Sophie Cotsis expressed sympathy for those who had lost loved ones, saying their loss reinforced the need to better protect workers across NSW. She reaffirmed the government's commitment to improving workplace health and safety so people can return home safely at the end of their working day.

The government highlighted measures it has introduced to strengthen employer accountability, including industrial manslaughter laws that hold employers responsible for criminally unsafe workplaces. It also noted that transport gig workers now have protection under the state's industrial regime.

Measures addressing silicosis and other deadly dust-related diseases include the Lung Bus, the Silica Workers Register and a ban on manufactured stone. The government also highlighted improvements in early detection and long-term monitoring, alongside its continuing work to identify further ways to protect workers.

The government has invested a record $127.7 million to establish SafeWork NSW as a standalone regulator and appoint 51 additional inspectors, its largest increase in inspector numbers. That expansion also forms part of the government's $344 million Workplace Mental Health package, which supports stronger mental health assistance and injury prevention strategies.

The newly established SafeWork Advisory Council brings together unions, employers and WHS experts to include a range of perspectives in workplace safety decisions. The government is also establishing a Psychosocial Advisory Service to provide workers and business owners with tailored advice on managing psychosocial safety at work.

Unions NSW Secretary Mark Morey said workers have a right to return home safely and families have a right to expect their loved ones to come home. He described the decades-long trauma that workplace fatalities can cause for families and friends, and reaffirmed a commitment to preventing workplace deaths.

SafeWork Commissioner Janet Schorer paid tribute to workers who never returned home and expressed sympathy for those who continue to mourn them. She said the day was a reminder of every workplace's responsibility to keep workers safe, reaffirmed SafeWork NSW's commitment to protecting workers and called on workplaces to renew their commitment to safer practices.

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