The Federal Government has announced a $42.7 million budgetary measure to make all legally mandated Australian Standards free to view.
Delivered in the 2026–27 Federal Budget, the funding will provide ongoing grants to Standards Australia over the next four financial years. This will establish free public, read-only digital access to all standards referenced in Commonwealth, state, and territory legislation.
The initiative covers all mandatory standards across workplace health and safety (WHS), the construction industry, and product safety. In the building sector alone, the change is expected to save small electrical, plumbing, and construction firms up to $1,600 per year in access fees.
A decade of safety advocacy
The policy shift follows more than ten years of pressure from safety advocates, parliamentary inquiries, and industry bodies.
A Western Australian parliamentary inquiry first raised the issue a decade ago, finding that forcing businesses to pay hundreds of dollars for codes they were legally required to follow violated basic democratic principles. The push was repeated in a 2017 Federal Senate inquiry, and the Australian Institute of Health and Safety (AIHS) issued formal warnings in 2018 and 2024 that high access costs were compromising workplace safety outcomes.
The issue peaked in March this year during public consultation for the ongoing review of national model WHS laws, where duty holders strongly argued that the paywall was a major barrier to compliance.
Industry response and compliance advice
AIHS Chief Executive Julia Whitford welcomed the commitment, stating that standards businesses are legally required to follow should never sit behind a paywall and that the funding will remove unnecessary barriers for safety professionals. Standards Australia CEO Rod Balding described the move as a landmark step forward for national safety and productivity.
To prepare for the rollout of the free read-only platform, employers should review their current risk registers to identify which legislated standards apply to their operations. Businesses can use this free access to update their staff induction files and verify that their safe work method statements (SWMS) match the exact requirements of the law.
