Attorney-General Kyam Maher today announced the release of a draft Work Health and Safety (Industrial Manslaughter) Amendment Bill, which will be available for public comment on SafeWork SA’s website until February 10, 2023.

The legislation, a pre-election promise, would see maximum prison terms of 20 years introduced for individuals and fines of $15 million for companies if they are found to have engaged in reckless or grossly negligent conduct that breaches their work health and safety duty and results in the death of a person.

The Attorney-General says a final draft of the legislation will be introduced to parliament early next year after public consultation is completed.

“Industrial manslaughter laws recognise that, while tragic workplace accidents do occur from time to time, it’s not an accident when people deliberately cut corners and place workers’ lives at risk. It’s a crime and it will be treated like one,” Maher said in a statement.

“The overwhelming majority of businesses in South Australia do the right thing and take the health and safety of their workers seriously.

“These laws are designed to catch dodgy operators who are reckless or grossly negligent with their workers’ health and safety and ensure there is an appropriate penalty for this behaviour.”

South Australia has never had a separate criminal offence for workplace manslaughter, with numerous previous attempts to pass industrial manslaughter legislation through private members bills not progressing.

Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia, the Northern Territory and ACT all have industrial manslaughter laws in place.

The South Australian Greens introduced legislation to parliament in both this term and last term seeking to criminalise the practice with maximum 20-year jail terms and $13 million fines for companies.

The Law Society of SA and Business SA have previously argued that the reforms are unnecessary, saying the Work Health and Safety Act and the standard penalty of manslaughter already cover industrial manslaughter.