AI and Workplace Safety: Who's Responsible When Robots Cause Injuries in Australia?

Robots, automated systems, and AI-driven machinery are increasingly common across Australian industries. Warehouses use automated guided vehicles and robotic picking systems. Manufacturing facilities deploy collaborative robots (cobots) that work alongside humans.

Mining operations use autonomous haul trucks and drilling systems. Agriculture employs autonomous tractors and drone-based crop monitoring.

Healthcare uses robotic surgical systems and AI-assisted diagnostic tools. Even offices are seeing the introduction of delivery robots and automated facilities management. As these technologies proliferate, the question of who is responsible when they cause injury becomes critical. In 2024-25, Safe Work Australia recorded a notable increase in workplace incidents involving automated systems, underscoring the urgency of this issue.

Under the model Work Health and Safety (WHS) laws adopted across most Australian states and territories, a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) — typically the employer — has a primary duty to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers and others at the workplace. This duty is technology-neutral. It applies whether the workplace hazard is a manual tool, a piece of traditional machinery, or an AI-powered robot.

The employer must identify hazards posed by automated systems, assess the risks they present, implement controls to eliminate or minimise those risks, provide adequate training for workers interacting with AI and robotic systems, and maintain equipment to a safe standard. Introducing AI or robots does not reduce the employer's duty — in many cases, it increases it because of the novel and complex hazards these technologies can create.

Liability for workplace injuries caused by AI or robots can extend to multiple parties. The employer or PCBU remains primarily liable under WHS law for failing to provide a safe workplace. This is a non-delegable duty — meaning the employer can't contract it away to a technology vendor.

However, other parties may also bear responsibility. The manufacturer or supplier of the AI system or robot may be liable under the Australian Consumer Law (Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010) if the product was defective or unsafe.

The installer or maintainer of the system may be liable if faulty installation or maintenance contributed to the incident. Officers of the PCBU (directors, managers) may face personal liability if they failed to exercise due diligence in ensuring WHS compliance.

If you're injured by an AI system, robot, or automated equipment at work, you're entitled to workers compensation in the same way as for any other workplace injury. Workers compensation in Australia is a no-fault system — meaning you don't need to prove your employer was negligent to receive benefits. You're entitled to payment of reasonable medical and rehabilitation expenses, weekly income support payments while you're unable to work, lump sum compensation for permanent impairment, and in the most serious cases, common law damages.

The process for claiming is the same: report the injury to your employer, seek medical treatment, and lodge a claim with the relevant state or territory workers compensation insurer. Don't delay reporting — strict time limits apply.

In NSW, you generally have 6 months from the date of injury to lodge a claim.

Employers must conduct thorough risk assessments before introducing AI or robotic systems to the workplace. Under the WHS regulations, this includes identifying all reasonably foreseeable hazards associated with the technology — including software malfunctions, sensor failures, unexpected movements, cybersecurity vulnerabilities, and human-machine interaction risks. The hierarchy of controls must be applied: eliminate the hazard if possible, substitute with something less hazardous, isolate people from the hazard through engineering controls, implement administrative controls such as procedures and training, and provide personal protective equipment as a last resort.

Risk assessments should be reviewed regularly and whenever the AI system is updated or modified, as software updates can change system behaviour in unexpected ways.

First, seek immediate medical attention. Report the injury to your employer as soon as possible — this is a legal requirement. Ask your employer to record the incident in the workplace injury register.

Take photographs of the scene, the equipment involved, and your injuries if possible. Get contact details of any witnesses.

Lodge a workers compensation claim through your employer or directly with the relevant state insurer. If the injury is serious (hospitalisation, amputation, serious burns, or death), the employer must notify the WHS regulator in your state immediately. You can also report the incident directly to the regulator. Consider seeking legal advice, particularly if the injury is severe, as you may have additional entitlements beyond workers compensation.

Don't sign any documents from your employer or their insurer without getting advice first.