Manual Handling Training in New South Wales

The WHS Act, the 2025 Regulation and SafeWork NSW

New South Wales moved to the model work health and safety laws on 1 January 2012, the same day as the ACT. Under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW), the main duty rests with the person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU), and SafeWork NSW administers and enforces it.

The Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 commenced on 22 August 2025, replacing the 2017 Regulation, which was due for automatic repeal on 1 September that year. Section 60 of the new Regulation requires a PCBU to manage the risk of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) from hazardous manual tasks; older material citing clause 60 of the 2017 Regulation refers to its predecessor.

What now sets the state apart is section 26A of the Act, in force since 1 July 2026. A PCBU must comply with an approved code of practice, or manage the hazard in another way that reaches an equivalent or higher standard. The NSW Government calls approved codes legally enforceable minimum standards rather than simply guidance, so the Hazardous manual tasks code is now the baseline.

What SafeWork NSW treats as a hazardous manual task

SafeWork NSW describes a manual task as hazardous when it involves repetitive or sustained force, high or sudden force, repetitive movement, sustained or awkward posture, or vibration. Its own examples are deliberately ordinary: stacking shelves, working on a conveyor line and entering data into a computer. Heavy lifting is only one part of the picture.

The Hazardous manual tasks code of practice is the regulator's main practical guide. SafeWork NSW names hospitals, nursing homes, warehouses and distribution centres among the workplaces with high levels of hazardous manual tasks, and health and care services also have the Healthcare and social assistance industry code of practice.

Two further positions matter to mobile workers. SafeWork NSW states that a home is a workplace while work is carried out there, as is a private car used for work, including travel between clients; it calls these vehicles the grey fleet. For labour hire, it expects the host to work with the agency to jointly manage the worker's safety and to give a workplace-specific induction.

Is manual handling training compulsory in NSW?

The law requires training, but it describes an outcome rather than a certificate. Under the model WHS Act that New South Wales adopted, the primary duty in section 19(3)(f) includes providing the information, training, instruction or supervision needed to protect everyone from risks arising from the work. No NSW law names a single manual handling course that every worker must hold.

Each employer decides what its tasks call for. Some rely on a short course plus instruction on the job; others ask for HLTWHS005, a nationally recognised unit that is not the same thing as a Certificate of Completion.

Training also comes after other controls. Under the hierarchy of controls, the first question is whether the task, the equipment or the work environment can change: a lower shelf, a trolley, a lifting aid, a second person. Training then explains how to use those changes; telling people to lift carefully while a poorly designed task stays as it is does not manage the risk. No Australian WHS law sets one universal lifting limit in kilograms either, so every task is assessed on its own facts.

Manual tasks across the NSW workforce

Western Sydney has many large warehouses and distribution centres, where picking, packing, loading trucks and working at conveyor lines fill the shift. On building sites from Sydney to the Hunter and the Illawarra, workers carry materials, reach overhead and kneel for long stretches.

Hospitality and retail staff lift stock pots, kegs and delivery cartons and restock shelves. In hospitals, nursing homes and disability support services the load is often a person, and childcare educators spend much of the day bending to low tables and lifting children. Cleaners push trolleys and empty bins, often after hours, while office workers face the slower build-up of strain from long hours at a keyboard.

Near the ACT border, many people from Queanbeyan, Yass and Bungendore work in Canberra, where WorkSafe ACT regulates under the territory's own version of the model laws. The core duties match closely, but section 26A is a New South Wales provision, and each employer's procedures are its own.

Practical points for NSW workers

• Ask which code of practice covers the manual tasks in your role. Since 1 July 2026, a NSW business must meet it or use an approach that is at least as safe.
• Report tasks involving repeated or sustained force, sudden force, repetitive movement, awkward postures or vibration, even when the load is light.
• If a labour hire agency places you, expect a workplace-specific induction from the host before you start.
• If you work in clients' homes or drive your own car between jobs, treat both as workplaces and report hazards such as a cramped bathroom or a heavy load in the boot.
• Keep your records together: any online certificate plus records of the practical sessions your employer runs on its own equipment.

How an online course fits with employer training

Manual Handling Academy offers a self-paced course for each of nine industries. Training and the 20-question assessment are free, with a 75% pass mark and unlimited attempts; you pay A$49 only after passing, for a Certificate of Completion with a unique number and a QR code anyone can verify online.

The course is not Nationally Recognised Training, does not lead to a Statement of Attainment and is not endorsed by SafeWork NSW. It gives you the principles; your employer still has to show you how to handle its own loads, equipment and layout.

Common questions

Other states and territories

• Manual handling training in Victoria
• Manual handling training in Queensland
• Manual handling training in Western Australia
• Manual handling training in South Australia
• Manual handling training in Tasmania
• Manual handling training in the Australian Capital Territory
• Manual handling training in the Northern Territory
• All guides by industry