Australia’s chemical regulation falls under the Model Work Health and Safety (WHS) legislation. The WHS is developed at the federal level but it is up to the different states/territories to implement, regulate, and enforce them. For Nexreg services, we provide the most recent Australia GHS regulations to the entire country. If clients ask for specific territory information we can discuss options with them.

In New South Wales/South Australia/Northern Territory, existing products do not require labelling according to Rev. 7 if they were manufactured or imported:

Before January 1, 2017 and were labelled in accordance with NOHSC:2012(1994) or

Before January 1, 2023 and were labelled in accordance with GHS Rev 3 at time of manufacture

In Victoria, existing products do not require labelling if they were manufactured or imported before January 1, 2023 and were labelled in accordance with GHS Rev. 3, 4 or 5 at the time of manufacture.

The pre-2016 regulations (pre-GHS) appear to still be valid for Western Australia, but they are consulting on how to implement elements of the WHS.

**There is an unlimited sell-through period for existing labels. Suppliers and users of hazardous chemicals may continue to use existing stock until it runs out, even if it runs out after December 31, 2022.

Australia has a new GHS based system.

For the new GHS based system, the following additional regulations are in effect:

• Globally Harmonised System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals 3rd Revised Edition,
• National model Code of Practice for the Labelling of Workplace Hazardous Chemicals (2011).

The Workplace Health and Safety Regulations (WHS), which regulates hazardous chemicals in the workplace, has been updated to align with Revision 7 of GHS. The regulation came into force January 1, 2021 and all new SDSs/GHS labels will need to comply with Revision 7 by December 31, 2022. This change only affects classification and labelling.

For more information please refer to Safe Work Australia.

Australian SDS’s can be combined with New Zealand regulations so that one document will be compliant in both jurisdictions. Having a single document for use in other jurisdictions should be avoided due to significant differences between systems.