Prosecutions for the most serious breaches (i.e. category 1 offences, see recommendation 55) should be brought on indictment, with other offences dealt with summarily.
RECOMMENDATION 54
There should be provision for indictable offences to be dealt with summarily where the Court decides that it is appropriate and the defendant agrees.
Typically, Australian OHS laws have different penalty ranges for different classes of duty holders. Those who have general duties of care are subject to higher penalties than those who have less capacity (e.g. workers) to influence the elimination or minimising of OHS hazards and risks. In addition, as we noted earlier, offences may be differentiated by the presence of various types of aggravating factors (e.g. gross negligence291) or by the consequences of a breach (e.g. multiple deaths292).
Some states have taken the approach of specifying levels of penalty that may be applied to breaches depending on the seriousness of the matter (e.g. the WA Act includes four levels of penalty293 and the SA Act has fines that are classified from Divisions 1 to 7).
