"Today's reported announcement by the NSW Premier about stepping away from national OHS laws and comments regarding the Barangaroo development are extremely retrograde and out of step with the community's interests," Ai Group Chief Executive Heather Ridout said today.

"The Federal and State Governments committed to uniform national OHS laws after an exhaustive public consultation process and a review by an independent panel. That review rejected out of hand the proposals reportedly now being pursued by the NSW Government. These include the ability of unions to launch prosecutions against employers - a role that properly lies with an independent prosecutor - and the NSW onus-of-proof provisions which are unfair upon employers. These items were found not to lead to better safety outcomes.

"In February this year the High Court described the NSW OHS regime as containing 'obligations that were impossible to comply with and burdens which were impossible to bear.'

"The national workplace relations and construction industry laws and Codes need to apply to the Barangaroo development. There are parts of the Fair Work Act which employers would very much like to be exempted from, but the reality is that the laws are in place and employers, employees, unions and governments need to work within them. Numerous major projects have been successfully built over the past 5 years applying national workplace relations laws.

"Both national IR and OHS laws need to apply to the Barangaroo development and all other workplaces. Any other approach is not in the community's interests," Mrs Ridout said.