Economic valuation of WHS outcomes

Overview Safe Work Australia is seeking a service provider to update its economic valuation of work health and safety (WHS) outcomes. The project will provide a contemporary and robust evidence base for understanding how improvements in WHS can contribute to productivity, labour market participation and broader economic performance. Purpose Building on Safe Work Australia's 2022 research, the project will update and strengthen the existing methodology and extend the analysis to provide a stronger evidence base for understanding how improvements in WHS contribute to productivity, labour market participation and broader economic performance. Scope The scope includes: Updating and strengthening Safe Work Australia's existing economic valuation methodology for WHS outcomes Scenario-based modelling, including the impact of AI adoption, climate change and a reduction in harmful behaviours Analysis of distributional effects across different worker cohorts and business sizes Development of a breakeven analysis framework to inform future WHS policy development Development and application of a cost-of-injury framework combined with dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) models for estimating the economy-wide costs and impacts of changes in WHS outcomes, including scenarios focused on AI adoption, climate change and a reduction in harmful behaviours Identifying and sourcing data inputs for CGE models and associated data analysis Identifying assumptions, reliability and limitations of developed models and analysis Developing user guidance for applying the model outputs in a range of policy contexts, including regulatory impact assessment Documenting methods and processes Reporting of analysis results Deliverables include: A draft and final project plan Progress reports Model development and data delivery Reporting and analysis A non-technical report for a broad audience A technical report covering methods and assumptions User guidance A workshop of key findings Contract Terms and Conditions Contract term: Monday, 11 January 2027 to Monday, 28 June 2027, with one extension of up to three months Project plan milestone: 18 January Progress reporting: Monthly Model development and data delivery: 12 March User guidance: 2 April Draft non-technical report: 30 April Final non-technical report: 14 May Draft technical report: 4 June Final technical report: 18 June Workshop: 25 June All milestones are to be delivered by email, meeting or MS Teams Enquiries Email: procurements@swa.gov.au