Most Adelaide businesses think of June 30 as a deadline for the accountant. Fewer think of it as a deadline for workplace safety. But the six weeks before the end of financial year are one of the best windows in the calendar to look honestly at your safety system, because three things land in the same week.
Your workers’ compensation premium is about to be recalculated. Your insurance broker is asking for documentation. And the new financial year budget conversation is happening, which is the one time of year “we need to spend on safety” actually gets traction.
This is a short, practical checklist of what to review before June 30.
Why EOFY matters for your safety system
Two specific reasons worth knowing.
Your ReturnToWorkSA premium reflects your claims history. The average premium rate for 2026-27 is 1.85%, but the average isn’t what you pay. Your premium is built from your wages, your industry rate, and the cost of any time-lost claims from the previous year. A claim this year flows directly into next year’s bill. Auditing your safety system now is one of the few things that genuinely shifts that number.
The regulator is busier. SafeWork SA issued 427 on-the-spot fines (cautionary expiations) in 2024-25, more than double the 176 issued the year before. Construction is currently the focus of a 12-month targeted campaign. Industries like healthcare, manufacturing and transport are receiving heightened attention under the national WHS strategy. Hoping you don’t get inspected is a worse strategy in 2026 than it was two years ago.
The 7-area checklist
1. Policies and procedures
- Safety policy signed and dated within the last 12 months
- Procedures match what the business actually does today, not three years ago
- New sites, new services and new staff are reflected in the documents
2. Risk register
- Every significant hazard is captured, not just the obvious ones
- Psychosocial hazards are included (this is the most common gap we find)
- Each risk has named controls and a review date
- Recent incidents have been added back into the register
3. Training and induction records
- Every current worker has a signed induction on file
- High-risk work licences haven’t expired
- Refresher training is scheduled where it’s required
- Records sit somewhere central, not in someone’s email
4. Incident and near-miss data
- Any notifiable incidents were reported to SafeWork SA on time
- Investigations went past “human error” to real root cause
- Corrective actions were completed, not just listed
- Near-miss reports exist (an empty log is a problem, not a success)
5. Contractor management
- Current insurance certificates on file for every contractor
- Safe Work Method Statements held for high-risk construction work
- Inductions completed before contractors start, not after
- Scope of work signed and clear
6. Plant and equipment
- Plant register is current
- Service and maintenance records up to date
- Test and tag intervals being met for your environment
- Guarding intact, isolation procedures used
7. Worker consultation
- Health and Safety Representatives in place where required
- Toolbox talks documented with topic, date and attendees
- Workers can describe how they raise a safety concern, not just produce paperwork
Signs your system is drifting
Most Adelaide businesses we work with don’t have no system. They have a system that’s quietly stopped matching the business. Watch for:
- The system was written when you were smaller
- The original consultant who built it isn’t around any more
- Training is happening less often than the documents say it should
- The same near-misses keep showing up
- The risk register hasn’t been touched in over a year
Drift isn’t a failure. It’s the natural pull of a busy business. The annual review is the moment to pull things back into alignment.
What to do once you have your findings
Findings only matter if you act on them. After the review:
- Take a prioritised action list into your new-year budget
- Knock off the quick wins in the first 30 days (training updates, signage, register corrections)
- Diary the medium-priority items across the next 90 days
- Lock in dates for any major projects
- Diary next year’s review for May
A good annual rhythm is audit in May or June, plan in July, execute through the rest of the year, then back to audit.
Frequently asked questions
When should I start my EOFY safety review?
Allow about six weeks. Begin in mid-May for a comfortable finish before June 30. If you’re starting later, focus on the highest-risk areas first: incidents, contractor management, training records.
Do I need an external consultant?
You can do this internally if you have the time, the WHS knowledge, and the willingness to find things wrong with your own work. Most businesses struggle with the third point. A common compromise is an internal first pass, then an external review.
Will an EOFY audit actually reduce my ReturnToWorkSA premium?
Indirectly. Audits don’t change premiums on their own. They identify the risks that, if controlled, prevent the next claim. Your premium responds to actual claims experience over time. The value of the audit is in what you do with it.
What if the audit finds something serious?
Genuinely serious findings (an unsafe practice, an unreported notifiable incident, a major regulatory breach) need to be acted on immediately, not parked until July.
Get ahead of the deadline
End of financial year is the rare moment when proactive safety work pays back across budget, insurance and regulatory exposure at the same time.
At Beaumont Solutions we work with Adelaide businesses across construction, manufacturing, healthcare, hospitality and professional services to run pre-EOFY gap analyses that turn into something the business can actually use.
Call us on 08 7190 7910 or book a pre-EOFY gap analysis.
