NSW Workplace Protection Orders: What Employers Need to Know

Key takeaways for employers

• If passed, a new NSW law will let courts ban people who threaten, stalk, intimidate or assault retail workers from the workplace.
• The business, an employer organisation, a union or a trained health and safety representative will be able to apply, without needing the affected worker’s consent.
• Applying is optional, but businesses with good records and processes will be able to act quickly.

Why New South Wales is acting

In introducing the Bill, Attorney General Michael Daley cited research undertaken by the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association (SDA), which surveyed 2,592 members. Of those surveyed, 88% reported experiencing verbal abuse from customers, 25% experienced physical violence, and 59% reported repeated abuse or violence involving the same customer in the preceding 12 months. 

The Workplace Protection Order Bill 2026 (the Bill) introduced on 20 October 2026, would allow courts to make workplace protection orders (WPOs) imposing restrictions on individuals to protect workers from violence, harassment and intimidation, including prohibiting individuals from entering a workplace. 

How a Workplace Protection Order works

A WPO is a civil order, but knowingly breaching it is a crime. The Local Court hears applications against adults, and the Children’s Court those against people under 18. 

Every order automatically prohibits the respondent from assaulting, threatening, stalking, harassing or intimidating protected workers, or damaging their property or property at the workplace. The court can add further conditions, such as banning the person from approaching or entering the workplace, contacting staff, or possessing firearms or prohibited weapons. 

In imposing additional restrictions under a WPO, courts must balance the need to protect workers against potential hardship to the respondent in the application. Restrictions must be necessary for workers’ safety and must not cause undue hardship. For example, where the banning of the respondent may be overly punitive, such as attending the only supermarket in a regional area, a court could restrict their attendance to certain hours. 

Who is protected

The Scheme will initially apply to retail workplaces, meaning workplaces where goods are sold, or offered or exposed for sale, by retail. Other public-facing workplaces may be added by regulation, with the Government identifying essential services, such as health care and transport, as areas requiring careful consideration.

Within these workplaces, the Scheme will protect workers who directly interact with members of the public, including employees, contractors, labour hire workers and volunteers. A WPO may protect an individual worker or an entire class of workers.  

WPOs are intended to protect workers from threats arising outside the workplace. Accordingly, orders cannot be sought against another worker at the same workplace or a child who was under 14 at the time of the relevant conduct. 

Who can apply

An application may be made by: 

• The person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) at the workplace;
• An employer organisation for that class of workplace;
• A trained health and safety representative (HSR) for the affected work groups; or
• A union entitled to represent the affected workers. 

The Bill does not require the affected worker’s consent, and a union or HSR does not need the employer’s agreement. One application can cover several stores run by the same business, and different businesses targeted by the same person can apply together. 

Where someone other than the PCBU applies, they must notify the PCBU at least five days before the hearing. The PCBU is also entitled to be heard in the proceedings. 

The test for an order 

To make a final order, the court must be satisfied on the balance of probabilities that: 

1. the respondent has engaged in a personal violence offence, stalking or intimidation towards the workers at, or in connection with, the workplace;
2. there are reasonable grounds to fear it will happen again; and
3. the conduct is sufficient to warrant an order, with exceptional circumstances also required for respondents under 18.

The workers do not need to personally fear the respondent. However, the court must consider whether less restrictive measures would be sufficient, regardless of whether they have been tried, and must generally refer the matter to mediation unless there is good reason not to do so. 

Where necessary to prevent an immediate risk to workers' safety, the court may make an interim WPO, even without the respondent having received notice of the application.  

Final WPOs remain in force for the period the court considers necessary to protect workers, or 12 months if no period is specified. 

A new tool, not a new obligation 

Nothing in the Bill requires employers to seek an order, and an order restricts the respondent, not the business. WPOs are an extra way to protect staff, not another compliance burden.

That said, what is “reasonably practicable” under WHS laws depends partly on the availability and suitability of ways to minimise a risk. 

Once WPOs exist, whether an employer considered one for a known repeat offender may become relevant to whether it has met that duty, particularly as the Government intends the scheme to be primarily PCBU led.

When will it start 

If passed, the Act will commence on proclamation or 12 months after assent, whichever is earlier. The Government has said it can start the scheme sooner if implementation work is finished early.  

How employers can prepare 

To be ready before the next incident, employers can:

• record who the offender is, which workers were affected and why it may happen again;
• track repeat offenders across sites, so one application can cover every affected store;
• document banning notices, security measures and other steps already taken;
• decide who can authorise an application, including an urgent interim application, and how service will be arranged;
• plan how staff will be briefed and how affected workers will be supported if they need to give evidence.

Need support?

Should you have any questions about how this works for your business, please get in touch with one of the team to discuss at info@ablawyers.com.au.

If you already subscribe to our Workplace Advice Line, please get in touch with the Advice Line for any questions or further guidance.