Building the business case in Western Australia

WA Health's Preventing and Managing Workplace Violence and Aggression Policy (MP 0159/21), updated in August 2026, requires every health service provider to run a training needs analysis, deliver evidence-based and culturally appropriate de-escalation training with annual refreshers, and report completion to the Department every July.

The cost side backs it up. Claim costs in WA's health industry rose from $158m to $186m in three years (WorkCover WA). Department of Health figures released in April 2026 averaged 12 physical violence and aggression incidents a day in 2025 (HSUWA). And since 9 October 2026, the Chief Psychiatrist's new Restrictive Practices Standard spells out what de-escalation training in mental health services must cover.

What are the numbers in Western Australia?

Lost-time claims in WA's health industry rose every year from 2021-22 to 2024-25, and mental stress claims doubled.

2021-22

$158.1m

2022-23

$171.4m

2023-24

$182.8m

2024-25

$186.3m (provisional)

Source: WorkCover WA, health industry report. 2024-25 is provisional.

Sources: EMHS 2025-26 financials and annual report; CAHS; WACHS. Per FTE is our calculation. WA is the only state that publishes claims by staff category. Hotel and support staff are the second-largest group, so a case limited to clinicians misses them. Other providers' figures are on the open data page.

Other WA figures:

• Violence is the most reported workplace incident at East Metropolitan Health Service (EMHS). Royal Perth's director of nursing has said about a quarter of staff will experience physical violence during their time there (6PR, May 2025).
• Staff feel it: in a 2025 HSUWA survey, 68% of WA public health workers felt unsafe at work because of aggression (HSUWA, April 2026).
• Return to work is slipping: at one metropolitan health service, 38% of injured staff were back within 13 weeks in 2025-26, down from 47%, against a 70% target (annual report).
• Psychological claims cost more: across WA government agencies in 2024-25, mental health claims averaged $89,563 and 151 days off, against $53,444 and 97 days for physical injuries. Claims caused by workplace violence rose 31% (The West Australian).
• Restraint: in 2025-26 WA authorised hospitals recorded 3.6 seclusion events and 5.2 restraint events per 1,000 bed days. 52% of restraints were prone, and child and adolescent restraint ran at 20.1 per 1,000 bed days. Prone restraints lasting over 3 minutes fell from 9% in 2022-23 to 4% (WA Chief Psychiatrist Annual Report 2025-26).

What are WA regulators and WA Health saying?

The policy now sets the training standard. MP 0159/21 version 3.0 (3 August 2026) requires health service providers to:

• complete a documented training needs analysis for each occupational group or role;
• deliver training that is evidence-based, culturally appropriate and proportional to risk;
• cover, in high-risk areas, verbal and non-verbal de-escalation, early warning signs, clinical conditions affecting behaviour, trauma-informed practice, and reporting and staff support;
• run at least one in-person or facilitated virtual session a year where practicable, plus annual refreshers;
• train new high-risk-area staff in person within 2 months in Perth, or within 6 months in the regions (with eLearning in the first 2 months);
• use a competent person to deliver it, keep records, evaluate it, and report completion to the Department by 31 July each year.

Source: WA Health, MP 0159/21.

A new restrictive practices Standard sets the training content. The Chief Psychiatrist's Standard for Restrictive Practices, effective 9 October 2026, specifies what de-escalation training in hospital-based mental health services must cover, requires it of all new staff with a yearly refresher, and holds contracted security to the same requirement as internal security. Services will report the share of new staff who complete the training and the share who complete the yearly refresher. See what the Standard asks of your training program, with a free self-check.

A review of the training itself is coming. The Chief Psychiatrist's 2025-26 annual report says the Office will review the aggression management and restraint training that health services and public private partnership services provide for mental health clinicians and security staff in 2026-27 (Chief Psychiatrist Annual Report 2025-26, p. 50). A program that already meets the Standard is the best preparation.

WorkSafe WA has codes of practice on violence and aggression at work and on psychosocial hazards (violence and aggression code). Industrial manslaughter has been an offence in WA since March 2022, with penalties of up to $10m for an organisation.

What's already happening: body-worn cameras for security officers under a new policy from May 2026, and Royal Perth's Behaviour Support Team, which saw 299 patients in its first eight weeks. About 40% of its work is coaching staff, and it is due to expand to Bentley and Armadale (EMHS). The state's new mental health strategy implementation plan for 2026-27 has no actions on restrictive practice or de-escalation, so services will need to fund this themselves.

Which arguments land in WA?

In WA, lead with compliance: WA Health policy makes the training mandatory, and the Chief Psychiatrist's new Standard now says what it must contain.

1. Compliance. Show how the program meets each MP 0159/21 requirement: needs analysis, evidence base, cultural appropriateness, annual refreshers, a competent trainer, records and evaluation. Your July completion report to the Department then writes itself.
2. The Restrictive Practices Standard. For mental health units, and for emergency departments and general wards when they treat mental health patients, the Standard (effective 9 October 2026) asks for age-appropriate, scenario-based training focused on prevention, aggression management and verbal de-escalation rather than restraint. It must include lived experience perspectives and competency assessment, and apply to every new starter, with a yearly refresher, and to contracted security staff too (clauses A3.1 and N3.1). Map your program to it clause by clause with our free self-check.
3. Avoided cost and lost time. Use your provider's own workers' comp line and claims data, and note that psychological claims cost about 70% more and keep people off about 50% longer.
4. The whole workforce. Hotel services and support staff are the second-largest claimant group at both EMHS and WACHS. The policy expects training "for each occupational group", so include them in the case.
5. Cultural safety and the regions. The policy requires culturally appropriate training, and the regional timelines (in person within 6 months) favour a model that can be delivered across WA Country sites.

Where can the money come from in WA?

Because MP 0159/21 makes the training mandatory, the first source is each health service provider's own budget. Private and not-for-profit providers can also look to the country's most relevant safety grant.

For WorkSafe WA's program (private and not-for-profit providers), frame the training as a psychosocial hazard control. For the research funds, frame it as an evaluated practice change. See Part 3 for how to frame each request.

Where do I find my own figures?

Most of what you need is already reported somewhere in your provider, because MP 0159/21 makes you collect it.

• Workers' compensation: the "workers' compensation insurance" line in your provider's financial statements, and the claims-by-category table in its annual report.
• Incidents: your incident data, reported quarterly to the Department under MP 0159/21.
• Training: your training needs analysis and the completion numbers you report each July.
• Restraint and seclusion: the Chief Psychiatrist's half-yearly rates for each authorised hospital.