Risk Response

When something goes wrong—or regulatory attention arrives—the actions taken in the first hours and days shape everything that follows. We respond at the moment it matters, protect legal position and provide clear direction from the first call.

Risk Response

What happens next depends on what you do now.

A serious incident, regulatory investigation or enforcement action changes an organisation's legal position immediately. Evidence forms, obligations crystallise and decisions made without specialist legal guidance—including decisions about communication, engagement and immediate response—can determine the outcome of proceedings that follow. The WHS legal landscape at this stage is not forgiving of delay. Regulators move quickly. Investigations proceed with or without your cooperation. What is said in the early stages—or in response to a notice—can become evidence. Delay is not neutral. It is its own form of exposure. We act at the moment these situations arise—providing the advice, representation and direction needed to manage exposure and establish the strongest possible position from the outset.

Capabilities

How We Assist

Enforcement Action & Notices

Improvement notices, prohibition notices, and other enforcement instruments carry immediate legal effect. A prohibition notice can halt operations. An improvement notice imposes obligations within defined timeframes. Each requires a response—and each carries consequences if that response is inadequate or misdirected.

The manner of response—decisions about compliance, negotiation, or formal challenge—affects both the immediate position and the longer-term legal exposure of the organisation. Getting those decisions wrong compounds the problem.

We advise on and manage responses to WHS enforcement action—assessing the legal basis of notices, identifying available options, and directing the response to protect the organisation's position and manage ongoing exposure.

This work includes:
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Advising on the legal basis and implications of improvement and prohibition notices
Assessing available responses—including compliance, negotiation, and formal challenge
Representing clients in proceedings to challenge or review notices
Advising on enforceable undertakings as alternatives to prosecution
Managing regulator engagement in response to enforcement action
Advising on exposure and strategy where enforcement action may escalate to prosecution

Regulatory Investigations & Engagement

A regulatory investigation is not an administrative process. It is a structured legal proceeding in which evidence is gathered, obligations and exposures are assessed and findings are made that can form the basis of prosecution. The regulator is experienced, well-resourced, and purposeful—and those under investigation should have representation of equivalent quality.

How an organisation engages with a regulator—what it provides, what it says, and the manner and timing of its engagement—is a legal matter in its own right. Cooperation that is not properly managed can produce outcomes that are difficult to reverse.

We represent and advise organisations and individuals throughout regulatory investigations—managing engagement, responding to notices and examinations, and ensuring each step taken is legally considered and strategically directed.

This work includes:
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Advising on rights, obligations, and exposure at the commencement of a regulatory investigation
Managing engagement with SafeWork and other WHS regulators
Responding to statutory notices, including section 155 notices and notices to produce
Advising on and representing clients at compulsory examinations and interviews
Managing the provision of documents, records, and information to regulators
Identifying and addressing exposure as the investigation develops
Advising on potential outcomes and strategy throughout the investigation

Incident Response & Crisis Management

The immediate aftermath of a serious workplace incident is among the most legally consequential periods an organisation will face. The decisions made in the first hours—about notification, scene management, engagement with the regulator and what is communicated internally and externally—establish the foundation on which everything that follows is built.

Early intervention by specialist legal counsel is not optional. It is the difference between directing the legal response and inheriting a position that has already been compromised.

We respond to serious workplace incidents from the first call—providing legal direction on notification obligations, regulator engagement, evidence preservation and the immediate response through to resolution.

This work includes:
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Immediate response and legal direction following serious workplace incidents
Advising on notification obligations to regulators, insurers and relevant parties
Managing regulator attendance and initial engagement at the incident site
Advising on evidence preservation, document management and internal communications
Directing the response to minimise exposure and preserve the legal position
Supporting crisis communications and managing reputational considerations
Providing ongoing legal direction through the post-incident period

WHS Prosecutions & Defence

A WHS prosecution is a serious criminal proceeding. The consequences—for organisations and for individuals—include significant financial penalties, enforceable undertakings and, in the most serious cases, terms of imprisonment. The prosecution bears a specific burden, but the standard of defence required to achieve the best outcome demands deep expertise in both WHS law and criminal advocacy.

Defending effectively requires legal judgment built on direct experience with how these matters proceed—from investigation through to trial, sentencing and appeal. Strategy, what is contested and how the matter is positioned are decisions that shape the outcome.

We represent organisations and individuals in WHS prosecutions—providing strategic legal advice, rigorous defence and strong advocacy at every stage of proceedings.

This work includes:
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Strategic legal advice and defence representation from the earliest stage of proceedings
Analysing the prosecution case and identifying grounds for contest
Advising on plea, negotiation, and sentencing strategy
Representing clients at criminal trials, sentence hearings, and appeals
Negotiating enforceable undertakings and alternatives to prosecution
Advising officers and individuals on personal exposure and defence
Managing related proceedings where multiple parties are involved

Coronial Inquests & Inquiries

A coronial inquest or public inquiry is not a prosecution—but it is not a neutral process. Findings made against individuals and organisations carry real consequences: for legal proceedings that follow, for regulatory standing, and for reputation. The public nature of many inquiries introduces dimensions that a purely legal strategy cannot address alone.

Those required to appear are often compelled to produce records, answer questions under oath, and participate in proceedings that extend over months. These proceedings demand experienced, specialist representation from the outset.

We advise and represent organisations, officers and individuals throughout coronial inquests and public inquiries—protecting their position, managing their obligations and directing strategy from the first engagement with the end in mind.

This work includes:
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Early advice and intervention to assess exposure and establish a strategy
Representation throughout proceedings, including private examinations and public hearings
Responding to statutory notices to produce information, documents, and records
Preparing witnesses and managing examination strategy
Managing reputational risk and adverse media considerations
Preparing written submissions in response to findings and draft recommendations
Advising on flow-on proceedings, including criminal charges and regulatory action that may follow

Risk Response

What happens next depends on what you do now.

How We Assist

Serious about your exposure?