The People at Work Survey Is Being Decommissioned

At a Glance

• The People at Work survey is closing down, with full access ending 2 October 2026.
• Registrations close 1 June 2026 and new surveys close 1 July 2026, so time is tight if you haven't started.
• Your legal obligation to manage psychosocial risk hasn't changed, only the tool. No law says you must use PaW specifically.
• Foremind's psychosocial hazard survey is one option worth considering, built to run continuously rather than as a once-a-year snapshot.
• If you've used PaW, export your reports now. Once the platform shuts down, that data is gone for good.

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 is being permanently decommissioned in 2026.

Why is the People At Work Survey Being Decommissioned?

The People at Work survey is being decommissioned because it no longer meets current legislative and practical standards for psychosocial hazard identification. Psychosocial risk management itself has not changed, only the tool.

PaW was developed through a research collaboration involving Australian universities and workplace health and safety regulators. For years it served as the default free tool for identifying hazards such as high job demands and poor organisational support.

The decommissioning decision, confirmed through communications from the Queensland Office of Industrial Relations and echoed by Safe Work Australia, points to three specific problems.

First, the survey does not adequately address hazards that are now explicitly named in the Model Code of Practice, including sexual harassment and isolated or remote work. Both were added to the regulatory framework after PaW's original design.

Second, staff engagement and response rates have declined over time, weakening the reliability of results.

Third, users have consistently reported that PaW's reports lack the detail needed to drive targeted, practical action. Organisations were often left with a hazard list but no clear next step.

Best Alternatives to the People at Work Survey

There is no single mandated replacement for PaW. The law requires consultation on psychosocial hazards, not the use of any specific survey, so several validated tools have emerged as credible alternatives.

Foremind's psychosocial hazard survey is built to run continuously rather than as a once-a-year event, and is fully aligned with the Model Code of Practice, covering the psychosocial hazards it sets out. It also pairs hazard identification with same-day access to an Australian-based counsellor when a risk surfaces.

Organisations already using Foremind's employee assistance program can extend the same platform to cover this without introducing a second system.

Other options worth knowing about include COPSOQ III, the HSE Management Standards Indicator Tool, and Guarding Minds at Work, summarised below.

‍

When Does the People at Work Survey Platform Actually Close?

The platform closes in three stages. New registrations close 1 June 2026, new surveys close 1 July 2026, and all access ends 2 October 2026, when organisational data is removed.

If you're ready now, you can still run an assessment using PaW before these dates hit. If you're not ready, there's no gap in support, since other validated tools are already available.

Do Your Psychosocial Risk Obligations Change When PaW Closes?

No. Your legal obligation to identify, assess, control, and review psychosocial hazards is ongoing and doesn't depend on any one survey being available.

What's changing is the availability of a tool, not the requirement to consult your workforce and manage the hazards it surfaces.

What Psychosocial Hazards Must You Manage Under the Model Code of Practice?

The Model Code of Practice lists a defined set of hazards employers must manage: high job demands, low job control, poor organisational support, role ambiguity, exposure to traumatic events, sexual harassment, and isolated or remote work.

The last two were added after PaW was built, which is part of why it's being retired. Each hazard needs the same treatment as a physical one: identified, assessed, controlled, and reviewed, not just noted on a spreadsheet.

How Do You Export Your People at Work Data Before the Platform Closes?

Export your PaW reports now. Raw data can't be recovered once the platform closes on 2 October 2026.

Log in, go to the reports section, download everything, and save it into your WHS document management system with a note of when it was extracted. Only generated reports can be exported, not raw response data, so don't wait.

What Does a Compliant Psychosocial Risk Management Process Actually Look Like?

A compliant process has four connected steps: identify the hazards, assess the risk, implement controls, and review whether those controls work, with consultation running through all of it.

A survey, PaW or otherwise, only covers the first step. It tells you what hazards exist. It doesn't give you a risk register, redesigned work practices, or proof that anything actually improved, so treat it as the entry point, not the whole job.

What Will a Regulator Ask For If They Investigate Your Psychosocial Risk Management?

Not whether you ran a survey. Regulators ask for evidence of what you did about it: when hazards were identified, who was consulted, what controls went in, and whether they worked.

A one-off survey report next to an untouched risk register won't answer any of that convincingly.

How Can Foremind Help You Move Beyond a Once-a-Year Survey?

Foremind closes the gap between hazard identification and demonstrated action by combining continuous psychosocial hazard monitoring with same-day counselling access and built-in tracking of whether controls actually work.

Most organisations approaching the PaW shutdown have been managing this piecewise: a risk register in a spreadsheet, a standalone employee assistance program that few staff use, and no reliable way to tell whether any of it has reduced risk.

Foremind brings these pieces into a single platform, covering all psychosocial hazard domains continuously through anonymous incident reporting and regular wellbeing check-ins, rather than through a once-a-year survey that is already dated by the time it's analysed.

When a stressor is flagged, employees get direct, same-day access to an Australian-based counsellor, with no waitlist. Managers get real-time visibility into which teams are under pressure, controls get documented as they're implemented, and the platform tracks whether conditions actually improve afterward.

This produces the kind of ongoing, defensible evidence trail regulators are increasingly expecting to see.

Your Immediate Checklist

1. Export your PaW data now, before the 2 October 2026 deadline, and store it in your WHS document management system.
2. Document the hazards your organisation had already identified through PaW, including dates and participation details.
3. Check whether your current approach covers all four steps: identify, assess, control, and review, not just hazard identification.
4. Confirm which psychosocial hazards in the Model Code of Practice, including sexual harassment and isolated or remote work, your current process actually measures.
5. Book a call with Foremind to see how a continuous psychosocial hazard survey and support platform fits alongside your existing WHS system.

FAQs

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 relevant state regulator's website directly for current contact details and jurisdiction-specific guidance, since these details can change and are best confirmed at the source.

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 as a continuous monitoring and support system rather than a standalone annual survey.

Organisations weighing cost against PaW's free model should factor in that Foremind's platform also 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 can replace a once-a-year survey with an audit-ready, ongoing process.

‍

‍