Medicinal cannabis and workplace testing in Victoria
OHS Act 2004 (Vic) — not the model WHS Act — plus heightened public scrutiny Last verified:
Unfair dismissal is federal law — the Fair Work Act and the case database apply the same in every state. What changes in Victoria is the layer around it: the safety statute, the discrimination statute, the roadside rules, and where to get help.
How the layers stack in VIC
- Dismissal and general protections: federal — Fair Work Act 2009, the 21-day deadline, and everything in the case database applies here unchanged.
- Work health and safety: Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic) - Victoria never adopted the model WHS Act, so terminology and duties differ in detail from other states; administered by WorkSafe Victoria. This is the statute that grounds your employer’s duty to manage impairment risk — and their obligation to consult the workforce on the policy.
- Discrimination: Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (Vic), alongside federal disability discrimination law. State and federal routes have different processes and deadlines — one reason early advice matters.
- Roadside: Victoria has been the most active reform jurisdiction on medicinal cannabis and driving - check our driving-law hub for the current state of the changes before relying on anything. Roadside law is its own minefield — our companion driving-law hub covers VIC in detail.
What’s distinctive about VIC
A Victorian parliamentary report put workplace drug testing of prescribed patients on the public agenda after finding workers routinely losing jobs over lawful medication - employer practice here is under more public scrutiny than anywhere else, which makes documented, proportionate process even more important.
Getting help in Victoria
For individual advice: Victoria Legal Aid, community legal centres, and the Fair Work Commission. Free first consultations are common at employment firms — the Dismissal Response Kit’s lawyer briefing pack is designed to make those first calls count.