SDS requirements for manufacturers and importers in Australia

The SDS requirements for manufacturers and importers in Australia come down to four duties in regulation 330 of the model WHS Regulations. You must prepare a safety data sheet (SDS) for a hazardous chemical before you first make or import it, review it at least once every five years, amend it whenever needed to keep it correct and current, and give the current version to anyone likely to be affected who asks.

The detail matters, though, because your SDS doesn’t stop at your website. Suppliers have to pass it on and workplaces have to hold the current one. So here’s each duty in plain English, with the regulator’s own words linked so you can check us.

Who must prepare an SDS?

The obvious answer: whoever makes the chemical, or brings it into Australia. The less obvious one sits in Safe Work Australia’s Code of Practice on preparing SDS:

a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) who packages or relabels a hazardous chemical with their own product name is considered to be a manufacturer

So if you sell a private-label product under your own brand, the SDS duties are yours too.

A quick word on jurisdictions. Safe Work Australia says the model WHS laws “have been implemented in all jurisdictions except Victoria”, and that some jurisdictions have made variations. The regulation numbers below follow the model numbering, which Queensland’s regulation uses. Victoria has its own section further down.

What are the reg 330 SDS duties?

Duty 1: prepare the SDS before you first supply it

Regulation 330(1) says you must prepare the SDS before first manufacturing or importing the chemical. If that isn’t practicable, you must do it as soon as practicable afterwards, and before you first supply it to a workplace.

In practice: no SDS, no shipment to a workplace.

Duty 2: follow Schedule 7

Regulation 330(2) says the SDS must comply with Schedule 7 (unless the research chemical, waste product or sample-for-analysis rules in regulation 331 apply). Schedule 7 is short and specific. Your SDS must:

• be in English
• use Australian legal units of measurement
• state the date it was last reviewed or, if it hasn’t been reviewed, the date it was prepared
• state the name, Australian address and business telephone number of the manufacturer, or of the importer (who must reside in Australia)
• state an Australian business telephone number for information about the chemical in an emergency
• use the 16 standard section headings, in order, from Section 1 (Identification) to Section 16 (Any other relevant information).

Importing? Safe Work Australia is clear that overseas SDS need Australian manufacturer or importer contact details, and that importers must check labels, SDS and classifications against the GHS and the Australian WHS Regulations, then fill any gaps. An overseas sheet with an overseas phone number won’t do.

The Code of Practice walks through what belongs in each of the 16 sections and includes a checklist. It’s worth keeping open while you write.

Duty 3: review every five years, amend whenever necessary

Regulation 330(3) has two parts. You must:

(a) review the safety data sheet at least once every 5 years; and (b) amend the safety data sheet whenever necessary to ensure that it contains correct and current information.

Two things people miss here.

The five years run from the last revision, not the first issue. The Code of Practice puts the review “at least once every five years from the date of original preparation or the last revision of the SDS.” We unpack the different dates on an SDS in which SDS date matters.

Five years is a ceiling, not a schedule. Part (b) applies all the time. The Code gives examples: amend the SDS “whenever any new information about the hazardous chemical is known or received or when the formulation changes.” Exposure values in Section 8 are worth a look right now: see workplace exposure limits from 1 December 2026.

When you do revise, the Code says Section 16 should give the date of preparation of the latest revision and “describe the changes made to the previous version of the SDS.” Your customers will thank you for that change note. For the workshop side of the five-year rule, see how long is an SDS valid.

Duty 4: hand over the current SDS when asked

Regulation 330(4) says you must provide the current SDS to any person who is likely to be affected by the chemical and asks for it.

Electronic is fine. Safe Work Australia’s guidance: “If you choose to put the SDS on your website, you must provide a paper version if someone asks for it.” More on that in electronic SDS registers and QR codes.

The five-year carve-out

Regulation 330(5) switches off the review duty (330(3)) and the provide-on-request duty (330(4)) if you haven’t manufactured or imported the chemical in the past five years.

Don’t delete the file just yet, though. The Code of Practice adds that an SDS “should still be made available after the hazardous chemical is withdrawn from sale as it may be required by workplaces at a later date.” Product still sitting on a shelf somewhere still needs its sheet.

Why does your current SDS have to travel down the supply chain?

Your SDS duties connect directly to two other groups.

Suppliers (regulation 339). Anyone supplying a hazardous chemical to a workplace must make sure the current SDS goes with it when it’s first supplied to that workplace, and again the first time it’s supplied after the SDS is amended. “First supplied” means the first supply to that workplace for five years. Suppliers must also provide the current SDS to a person at the workplace who asks. This duty doesn’t apply to consumer products, or to suppliers who are retailers.

Workplaces (regulation 344). A business using the chemical must obtain the current SDS from the manufacturer, importer or supplier when the chemical is first supplied, and again after the SDS is amended. It must keep the SDS readily accessible to workers who use, handle or store the chemical, and to emergency service workers. Under regulation 346, the current SDS also belongs in the workplace’s hazardous chemicals register. More on that in hazardous chemicals register requirements.

Put those together and the logic is simple. Your distributors and your customers are legally expected to hold your current revision. They can only do that if the new revision actually reaches them. A revision that lives only on your website doesn’t do much downstream.

What are the SDS duties in Victoria?

Victoria runs the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017, not the model WHS Regulations, so the regulation numbers above don’t apply there. WorkSafe Victoria’s summary of the duties will still look familiar. Manufacturers and importers of dangerous goods and hazardous substances must:

prepare an SDS for each of their products

give the current SDS to employers or occupiers of premises where the product is used or stored

review and revise each SDS as often as necessary (at least every 5 years)

WorkSafe Victoria adds that downstream suppliers must also give SDS to buyers, except retailers such as hardware stores. Its list of required content includes the manufacturer or importer details, an emergency telephone number and the “date of preparation or last review”.

And here’s a line national manufacturers will appreciate: WorkSafe Victoria says an SDS developed to meet another Australian jurisdiction’s hazardous substances legislation “will also comply with the Victorian OHS Regulations.”

How do you check your own SDS in ten minutes?

Pick one product and ask:

1. Is the review or preparation date on the SDS less than five years old?
2. Has anything changed since then (formulation, classification, exposure values, contact details)?
3. Do the Australian address, business phone and emergency number still work?
4. Does Section 16 say what changed in the latest revision?
5. If someone asked today, could you send the current version within minutes?
6. Do your distributors and customers know when a new revision comes out?

Where SupplySafe fits

Manufacturers, importers and brand owners publish their SDS on SupplySafe free. When you publish a new revision, every workshop register holding that product shows “A newer revision is available”, and you never see which workshops hold your products.

Frequently asked questions

Who must prepare an SDS in Australia?

The manufacturer or importer of the hazardous chemical. Safe Work Australia's Code of Practice also treats a business that packages or relabels a hazardous chemical with its own product name as a manufacturer.

What does reg 330 require for an SDS?

Regulation 330 of the model WHS Regulations says the manufacturer or importer must prepare an SDS that complies with Schedule 7, review it at least once every five years, amend it whenever necessary to keep it correct and current, and give the current SDS to anyone likely to be affected who asks for it.

What are the safety data sheet requirements in Australia?

Under Schedule 7, an SDS must be in English, use Australian legal units of measurement, state the date it was last reviewed or prepared, give the manufacturer's or importer's name, Australian address and business phone number, give an Australian emergency phone number, and use the 16 standard section headings in order.

Does the five-year SDS review run from the first issue date?

No. Safe Work Australia's Code of Practice says the review is due at least once every five years from the date of original preparation or the last revision of the SDS.

Can an imported SDS keep its overseas contact details?

No. Safe Work Australia says overseas SDS need Australian manufacturer or importer contact details, and importers must check labels, SDS and classifications against the GHS and the Australian WHS Regulations.

Sources

• Queensland Government, Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld), current in-force version: sections 330, 331, 339, 344 and schedule 7 (accessed 14 October 2026)
• Safe Work Australia, Model WHS laws (accessed 14 October 2026)
• Safe Work Australia, Preparing safety data sheets (accessed 14 October 2026)
• Safe Work Australia, Model Code of Practice: Preparation of safety data sheets for hazardous chemicals (June 2023) (accessed 14 October 2026)
• WorkSafe Victoria, Safety data sheets (accessed 14 October 2026)