Ardent Leisure Ltd pleaded guilty to three contraventions, under sections 19(2) (“Primary duty of care... [to] other persons”) and 32 (“Failure to comply with health and safety duty–category 2”) of the Queensland Work Health and Safety Act 2011, and was sentenced in the Southport Magistrates Court.

Its three section-19(2)/32 charges related to its failure to: provide and maintain safe plant and structures; provide and maintain safe systems of work; and provide the information, training, instruction and supervision that was necessary to protect all persons from safety risks arising from the Dreamworld business.

Ardent faced maximum penalties of $1.5 million for each charge, or $4.5 million in total. The $3.6 million penalty surpassed Australia’s previous record WHS fine of $3 million, which was also imposed in Queensland, under its new industrial manslaughter provisions.

Ardent’s charges related to the deaths of Kate Louise Goodchild, 32, her brother Luke Johnathan Dorsett, 35, Dorsett’s partner Roozbeh Araghi, 38, and Cindy Toni Low, 42.

The group were travelling in a raft on Dreamworld’s Thunder River Rapids Ride (TRRR) when it collided with an unoccupied stranded raft and got pulled vertically into a conveyor.

The incident was one of two workplace tragedies in Queensland that led to the introduction of the industrial manslaughter laws and the establishment of the Office of the Work Health and Safety Prosecutor.

The move came after a coronial inquest into the fatalities found the theme park had relied on “frighteningly unsophisticated” safety systems for decades and failed to learn from previous incidents on the TRRR.

The TRRR’s numerous “obvious hazards” included the large pinch point at the end of the conveyor system, and “would have been easily identifiable to a competent person had one ever been commissioned to conduct a risk and hazard assessment of the ride,” Coroner James McDougal said.

“It can be concluded beyond doubt that in the 30 years prior to this tragedy, Dreamworld failed to undertake, either internally or via an external auditor, a holistic examination of the TRRR by a suitably qualified engineer, so as to ensure its safe operation through the identification of the high and low probability risks and hazards present,” he said.

If this case raises any concerns for you and your organisation, the Victorian Chamber’s Health Safety and Wellbeing team is highly qualified and experienced in reviewing, preparing, and improving your fatality prevention procedures and practices, and upskilling your staff in these complex safety management needs.

For more information and support for this area of HSW consulting, training and other support, please contact us on 03 8662 5333 or hsw@victorianchamber.com.au to discuss your needs.