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Chemical register template for NSW workplaces (free Excel and PDF)
New South Wales doesn’t have its own register form. The rules for hazardous chemicals sit in the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025, and SafeWork NSW says the specific laws about working safely with hazardous chemicals are in sections 328 to 391 of it. The hazardous chemicals register is regulation 346.
That means the free template below works for a NSW workplace as it is. Download it in Excel, PDF or CSV, no sign-up.
What must a NSW chemical register contain?
NSW has implemented the model Work Health and Safety (WHS) laws, which Safe Work Australia says “have been implemented in all jurisdictions except Victoria”. Under the model regulation 346, the register is two things:
- a list of the hazardous chemicals used, handled or stored at the workplace, and
- the current safety data sheet (SDS) for each one.
It has to be kept at the workplace, kept up to date and readily accessible to workers and anyone else likely to be affected. The regulation doesn’t list columns: Safe Work Australia’s own template says only the chemical names are mandatory. Our guide to hazardous chemical register requirements goes through each part, with the regulator’s wording.
What’s in the template
The template is the same one explained in our hazardous chemical register template guide: product name, manufacturer or importer, supplier, SDS revision and last-reviewed date, the review-due date five years on, hazard class, location and where the SDS is kept. The extra columns are good practice, not law. The guide also has the step-by-step for filling it in.
Keeping it current
The list changes when products arrive or leave. The sheets change when the manufacturer revises them, and the manufacturer or importer must review each SDS at least once every five years. Two guides cover the timing:
- How often should a chemical register be updated?
- How long is an SDS valid?, including what “SDS expiry” really means
If an old sheet says “Material Safety Data Sheet” at the top, see MSDS vs SDS.
In Victoria?
Victoria uses different law, the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017, and calls it a register of hazardous substances. The same template works there; the template guide explains the Victorian rules.
A register that stays current by itself
A spreadsheet only stays current if someone keeps chasing sheets. SupplySafe for workshops links each product to the manufacturer’s current SDS, flags the sheets due for review and puts the whole register behind one QR poster. SupplySafe doesn’t write or edit SDS; manufacturers and suppliers publish their own, free.
Other states: Victorian chemical register template and QLD chemical register template.
Western Australia: see the WA chemical register template.
More states and territories: the SA chemical register template, Tasmanian chemical register template, ACT chemical register template and NT chemical register template, or every state on one list in chemical register templates by state.
Frequently asked questions
- Is there a NSW-specific chemical register template?
- NSW doesn't require a particular form. The register needs a list of the hazardous chemicals used, handled or stored at the workplace and the current SDS for each one, so any template that holds both will do, including the free one on this page.
- Which law sets the chemical register rules in NSW?
- The Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 (NSW). SafeWork NSW says the specific laws about working safely with hazardous chemicals are in sections 328 to 391 of that regulation. The hazardous chemicals register is regulation 346.
- Is the NSW register different from the one in other states?
- NSW is one of the jurisdictions that has implemented the model WHS laws, so the register duty follows the model WHS Regulations. Victoria is the exception: it has its own Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017.
Sources
- SafeWork NSW, Legislation and codes: hazardous chemicals (accessed 1 November 2026)
- Safe Work Australia, Hazardous chemicals register (accessed 1 November 2026)
- Safe Work Australia, Model WHS laws (accessed 1 November 2026)
- Safe Work Australia, Hazardous chemicals register template (accessed 1 November 2026)
This article is general information, not legal advice. It quotes and links the regulator's own wording; check the source and your state or territory regulator for anything that applies to your workplace. SupplySafe distributes Safety Data Sheets and does not author, edit or certify them. Rules change: see What's changing for dated, official updates.