Australian workplace legislation has changed significantly in recent years. New positive duty obligations, right to disconnect provisions, and psychosocial safety requirements are now in effect. HR policies drafted before 2024 are almost certainly non-compliant, exposing the business to Fair Work claims, WHS prosecution, and reputational damage.
Brookvale HR Solutions develops HR policies, employment contracts, and compliance frameworks for Australian businesses of all sizes. You work directly with Daniel throughout the process, not a junior consultant.
Australian employment law imposes a range of policy obligations on employers. The Fair Work Act and National Employment Standards set minimum entitlements; your policies operationalise them.
Something I consistently observe is that businesses treat employment contracts and policies as separate exercises. The contract comes from a lawyer, the policies come from the internet, and the two do not align. A contract references a probationary period the policy never addresses. A leave policy contradicts the contract. Managers end up making it up as they go, and the business carries the legal exposure. The methodology below treats your contracts, policies, and procedures as one coherent system.
Begin with a comprehensive review of your existing policies, contracts, and procedures, or start from scratch if your business has none. Identify the legal obligations specific to your business: a policy framework for a construction firm looks different from one built for professional services or hospitality.
Draft policies in plain language that your managers can implement and your employees can understand. Every document is built for the specific operations of your business, not adapted from a generic template, and aligned with the contracts that govern day-to-day work.
Work with your managers to implement the new policy suite, including training where required and a clear rollout sequence. Documentation that sits in a drawer protects nobody. Implementation support ensures policies translate into practice.
Establish a review cadence so policies stay current as workplace legislation evolves. New legislation is reviewed against your framework as it lands, and policies updated before the gap creates exposure.
The foundation set every Australian employer should have in place, regardless of industry or size. Each one carries a distinct legal or operational function. Newer exposures join the list as legislation and technology move; a generative AI workplace policy now sits alongside the traditional core set for many businesses.
Without a code of conduct, every piece of behavioural misconduct becomes a negotiation. It is the foundation document that other policies reference, setting expectations for workplace behaviour, professional standards, social media use, and the consequences for breach.
Positive duty obligations changed this in December 2022. Under the Sex Discrimination Act, employers must now take proactive steps to prevent sexual harassment, sex discrimination, and related conduct. A compliant policy goes beyond a generic statement to include reporting pathways, response procedures, and training obligations for managers and staff. This is one of the most significant areas of workplace relations reform in recent years.
Leave management policies operationalise National Employment Standards entitlements:
Clear policies reduce disputes and ensure consistent application across your workforce.
A documented performance management framework protects the employer in unfair dismissal claims. It sets out the process for addressing underperformance and misconduct, ensures procedural fairness, and creates the documentation trail the Fair Work Commission expects if a termination is challenged.
WHS policies are a legal obligation under workplace health and safety legislation. Since psychosocial safety codes of practice were introduced, WHS policies must now address psychosocial hazard management alongside traditional physical workplace safety. Effective policies protect employer and employees from harm and regulatory action.
Employment contracts must comply with the National Employment Standards, correctly reference the applicable modern award or enterprise agreement, include casual information statements where required, and observe fixed-term contract limitations introduced under recent Fair Work Act amendments. For a detailed guide to employment contract types and requirements, visit the blog for educational content on this topic. Daniel drafts, reviews, and updates employment contracts to ensure they comply with current legislation and reflect the specific terms of the role. The Fair Work Ombudsman's guidance on employer obligations and employment contracts is available at fairwork.gov.au/starting-employment.
The Closing Loopholes No. 2 Act 2024 changed how casual conversion works. Four short questions below give a general eligibility assessment under the updated NES provisions. Not a formal determination. Enterprise Agreement provisions may vary.
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Many small business owners download template policies and assume compliance. Templates are generic, often outdated, and do not account for industry-specific obligations, modern award interactions, or legislative changes that have reshaped employer obligations since 2024. A template code of conduct does not address your workplace, a template harassment policy does not meet your positive duty requirements, and a template leave policy does not reflect your award coverage. Whether you have 5 employees or 200, the risk of relying on outdated templates is the same.
Every document Brookvale HR Solutions produces reflects your actual operations, your industry, and your workforce. Daniel builds policies that your managers can implement and your employees can understand, because documentation that sits in a drawer protects nobody.
If your business has no HR policies in place and you are unsure where to start, visit the No HR Policies page for guidance on the first steps.
The Workplace Foundations Package covers everything: employment contracts, core policies, procedures, and implementation support, for $4,000.
You work directly with Daniel throughout the process, not a junior consultant. Two credentials underwrite the work:
Commercial context shapes every policy decision. Policies are not drafted in a vacuum. They are designed to fit how your business actually operates, what your managers can realistically enforce, and how legal exposure compounds over time.
Psychosocial hazard literacy across every policy framework. The post-2023 WHS landscape requires WHS, anti-discrimination, and harassment policies to operate as a coordinated system, not isolated documents. The Cert IV WHS underwrites that coordination.
Every policy framework, contract review, and compliance audit is delivered personally by Daniel. No handoffs, no juniors, no shared engagement teams.
Read more about Daniel's qualifications and experience on the About page.
“We recently worked with Brookvale HR Solutions to conduct a full HR audit, implement a new HR and safety policy suite, and resolve a difficult employee performance issue. Dan made the whole process straightforward, gave very practical advice, and ensured we were compliant at every step. We're now much clearer and more confident in how we manage our team, and we feel our HR and safety foundations are in a much stronger position. We will continue working with Dan and the team for all our HR needs and highly recommend them to any business needing HR support.”
Common questions on policy compliance, legal requirements, and the practical mechanics of getting it right.
The complete HR framework package including employment contracts, policies, and procedures built from scratch or rebuilt to meet current standards.
View Workplace Foundations PackageA 15-point gap analysis identifying compliance risks across your contracts, policies, and operational processes. The audit fee is fully credited if you engage Brookvale HR Solutions to implement the recommendations.
View the HR Compliance AuditA specific compliance plan addressing positive duty obligations under the Sex Discrimination Act.
View the Positive Duty PlanYou'll leave the call with a clear view of what needs to change, what it will cost, and the sequence to get there.
