The People at Work Survey Is Closing
Your psychosocial safety obligations still apply.
- PaW closes permanently on 2 October 2026, when organisational data is removed.
- Only generated reports can be exported from PaW. Raw response data cannot.
- No Australian WHS law names PaW. Your psychosocial duty continues without it.
- COPSOQ III, the HSE Indicator Tool and Foremind's survey are credible replacements.
- Regulators ask for evidence that controls were implemented and then reviewed.
Download our guide to managing your teams mental health
The People at Work (PaW) survey is the free, government-backed psychosocial risk survey that thousands of Australian employers have used to identify workplace psychosocial hazards. It is being permanently decommissioned on 2 October 2026.
Your duty to identify, assess, control and review psychosocial hazards continues unchanged. This guide covers the closure dates, how to choose a replacement, and what to do in the next 90 days.
When Does the People at Work Platform Close?
The People at Work platform closes permanently on 2 October 2026. Registrations closed on 1 June 2026 and new surveys closed on 1 July 2026.
If your organisation still has a PaW login, the only action left is downloading what you have already run. Once access ends, that data cannot be recovered.
Do Your Psychosocial Risk Obligations Change When PaW Closes?
No. Your duty to identify, assess, control and review psychosocial hazards continues exactly as it did before, because it sits in work health and safety law rather than in any survey platform.
Under the model WHS Regulations, a person conducting a business or undertaking must eliminate or minimise psychosocial risk so far as is reasonably practicable. Every state and territory now has enforceable psychosocial regulations or an approved code, set out in our psychosocial hazards legislation by state breakdown.
Enforcement has also tightened. From 1 July 2026, the NSW psychosocial code of practice became directly enforceable, so a PCBU must comply with the approved code or demonstrate an equivalent standard.
What Should You Look For in a People at Work Replacement?
A credible replacement covers every hazard named in the Model Code of Practice, runs more often than once a year, and links each finding to a control you can evidence.
Most tools identify hazards competently. Fewer help you prove what happened next, which is where audits fail. Assess any shortlist against five things:
- Hazard coverage. Every hazard in the Model Code, including sexual harassment and remote work
- Cadence. Continuous or pulse measurement rather than a single annual snapshot
- Control linkage. Findings that connect to assigned actions, owners and due dates
- Audit trail. Timestamped records of what was identified, consulted on and implemented
- Support pathway. A route to professional help when the survey surfaces distress
These criteria matter more than the questionnaire itself, since what a psychosocial risk assessment involves extends past the survey.
What Are the Best Alternatives to the People at Work Survey?
Four validated tools are credible PaW replacements: Foremind's psychosocial hazard survey, COPSOQ III, the HSE Management Standards Indicator Tool, and Guarding Minds at Work.
COPSOQ III and the HSE tool are free to license and leave hosting, analysis, reporting and follow-up to you. Our comparison of the best psychosocial safety platforms in Australia sets out where each approach fits.
How Do You Export Your People at Work Data Before the Platform Closes?
Export your PaW reports before 2 October 2026. Only generated reports can be downloaded, and raw response data cannot be retrieved once the platform closes.
- Log in to the People at Work platform and open the reports section.
- Download every report your organisation has generated, across all survey rounds.
- Save the files into your WHS document management system with the extraction date recorded.
- Record participation rates and survey dates separately, since these anchor future comparisons.
What Should You Do in the First 90 Days?
Work to the four steps in the Model Code of Practice: identify, assess, control and review, with consultation running through all of them. Ninety days is enough to rebuild a defensible position.
1. Days 1 to 30: export and audit
Download your PaW reports and assign one named owner for psychosocial risk reporting. Audit your current approach against the hazards in the Model Code and record every hazard you have no measurement for.
2. Days 30 to 60: reassess and register
Run or refresh a risk assessment using your chosen tool. Move the findings into a risk register with a rating, a named owner, a control and a due date against each hazard.
3. Days 60 to 90: embed and review
Set a recurring assessment cadence, brief your leadership team, and check whether your controls have shifted anything measurable. Our psychosocial safety compliance audit checklist covers the evidence to keep.
Which Psychosocial Hazards Must You Manage Under the Model Code of Practice?
The Model Code of Practice names 14 psychosocial hazards covering how work is designed, how it is managed, and how people behave at work. Each must be managed in the same way as a physical hazard.
The full set covers:
- Job design. High job demands, low job control, poor physical work environment
- Support and clarity. Poor organisational support, lack of role clarity, poor change management
- Recognition and fairness. Inadequate reward and recognition, poor organisational justice
- Behaviour. Bullying, harassment including sexual harassment, violence and aggression, conflict
- Exposure. Traumatic events or material, remote or isolated work
Sexual harassment and remote or isolated work were added after PaW was designed, which is part of why it is being retired. Our full guide to psychosocial hazards explains each one, and how to manage psychosocial hazards at work covers the controls.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is the People at Work Survey?
The People at Work (PaW) survey is a free, government-backed psychosocial risk survey used by Australian employers to identify workplace psychosocial hazards.
It was developed through a research collaboration involving Australian universities and work health and safety regulators, and delivered at no cost through a national online platform. For several years it was the default free option for identifying hazards such as high job demands and poor organisational support.
Why Is the People at Work Survey Being Decommissioned?
The People at Work survey is being decommissioned because it no longer matches current legislative and practical standards for psychosocial hazard identification.
Regulator communications point to four reasons:
- Hazard coverage. It does not adequately address sexual harassment or remote and isolated work
- Participation. Response rates declined over time, weakening the reliability of results
- Actionability. Reports listed hazards without pointing to practical next steps
- Redesign cost. Updating the instrument would require significant reinvestment
Newer instruments are shorter, more precise and better aligned to current research. Running a psychosocial hazard survey continuously is now the expected standard.
Is there a free replacement for the People at Work survey?
Yes. COPSOQ III and the HSE Management Standards Indicator Tool are both free to license. Neither includes hosting, analysis, reporting or follow-up, so the cost shifts from a licence fee to your internal time. Commissioning a bespoke instrument typically takes months of design and pilot work.
Can you still use your old People at Work data?
Yes, as a baseline. Your exported reports show where your organisation sat on each hazard at a point in time, which is what any new assessment gets compared against. Keep participation rates and survey dates alongside the reports, because comparisons without them are hard to defend.
Does Safe Work Australia have an official replacement for PaW?
No. No single mandated replacement has been announced, and none is required. WHS law obliges you to identify, assess, control and review psychosocial hazards, and leaves the choice of method to each organisation.
Is a survey on its own enough to meet your psychosocial duty?
No. A survey covers hazard identification, the first of four steps. You also need a risk assessment, implemented controls and evidence of review. Surveys work best alongside consultation, incident data and qualitative input from focus groups or exit interviews.
Which regulator do I contact about psychosocial risk in my state?
Each Australian state and territory WHS regulator handles psychosocial risk enquiries separately. WorkSafe Queensland, SafeWork NSW and WorkSafe Victoria all publish their own guidance and contact channels. Check your state regulator's website directly, since these details change periodically.
Is Foremind's psychosocial hazard survey free to use like PaW was?
No. Foremind's psychosocial hazard survey is part of a paid platform rather than a free government tool, reflecting its broader scope. Alongside hazard identification it includes same-day counselling access and ongoing control-effectiveness tracking, functions PaW never provided.
Not sure whether your current approach still meets your psychosocial risk obligations once PaW closes? Visit Foremind to see how continuous hazard monitoring and same-day support replace a once-a-year survey with an ongoing, audit-ready process.
Answers to the frequently asked questions.
Our last EAP was barely touched. Why would this be different?+
Most EAPs go unused because of how they're accessed, not because staff don't need them. Phoning a stranger, explaining yourself, then waiting weeks is enough to stop most people before they start. Foremind removes all three steps: staff see real counsellor profiles, pick someone themselves, and book the same day.
If you already have a provider, the question worth asking is what your current utilisation is. Most traditional EAPs sit in low single digits, which means you're paying for cover your people aren't reaching. If yours is being used, staff can get seen quickly, and it covers your psychosocial obligations, there's no reason to move. If not, it's worth knowing what you're getting for the spend.
Do you offer 24/7 support?+
Yes. A 24/7 after-hours crisis line means staff can reach someone immediately at any hour, including nights and weekends.
Counselling appointments are also available outside standard business hours, so shift-based and on-call teams aren't limited to a nine-to-five window. Those are two different things, and it's worth checking any provider offers both rather than just the crisis line.
Are your EAP counsellors based in Australia?+
Yes. Every practitioner on the platform holds current membership with an Australian professional body and practises under Australian standards, codes of ethics and disciplinary frameworks. There are no offshore call centres.
Practitioners hold membership with the Australian Counselling Association, the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia, or the Australian Association of Social Workers, along with a current Working with Children or Vulnerable People Check.
How much does an EAP cost?+
Pricing is usually per employee per month, based on total headcount rather than how many people use the service. Costs vary widely depending on whether sessions are bundled in and whether compliance tooling is included.
A more useful comparison is cost per employee who actually uses it. An EAP with 2% utilisation can work out several times more expensive per person helped than one that gets used. Foremind offers pay-as-you-go, inclusive session plans and compliance-inclusive plans, with discounted pricing for not-for-profits and charities.
For full breakdown of our plans, see our EAP pricing page or request a quote for a tailored proposal.
What information does an employer receive about EAP usage?+
Nothing that could identify anyone. All counselling is completely confidential and all reporting is anonymous - you'll never see who booked, when, or what was discussed.
What you do see is the aggregated picture: how many people are using it, what psychosocial risks are prevalent in the business, and which teams are under pressure. Enough to know the investment is working and where to act, never enough to identify a person. Reporting thresholds mean small teams can't be reverse-engineered from the data.
Does having an EAP meet an employer's psychosocial duty of care?+
No. An EAP is a control measure, and a valuable one, but it only addresses harm after it has occurred. It doesn't identify hazards, assess risk, or evidence that controls are working.
Australian WHS law requires you to identify psychosocial hazards, assess the risk, control it so far as is reasonably practicable, and review whether those controls are working — with documented evidence at each step. Offering counselling on its own leaves three of those four steps undocumented.
Foremind covers both in one platform. See how the compliance side works in our product tour.