Crane operator rules in the Australian Capital Territory

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. The sources are the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (ACT), Republication No 47 effective November 29, 2025, the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (ACT), Republication No 30 effective November 26, 2025, both from the ACT Legislation Register, and the Standards Australia catalogue entry for the harness standard the tree lopping section names. The national picture is on the parent page, cranes in tree work.

At a glance

Item	What the sources say
Law	Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (ACT), section 43, and the Regulation, Part 4.5, section 81
Who needs a licence	A person carrying out a class of high risk work listed in Schedule 3, which includes crane operation, dogging and rigging
Term	5 years from the day it is granted (section 92)
Other jurisdictions	Section 83 treats an equivalent licence issued under a corresponding WHS law as a licence, while it is being used on its terms and has not been suspended, cancelled or expired
Tree work	Section 221 covers a crane used to put a competent person in a tree to lop it

The licence rule

Section 81 of the Regulation says a person must not carry out a class of high risk work unless the person holds a high risk work licence for that class, except as section 82 provides. Schedule 3 sets out the licences and classes and Schedule 4 the qualifications. Section 86 says only a person who holds a Schedule 4 qualification may apply. Section 43 of the Act is the general rule behind it: where a regulation requires work to be done by an authorised person, a person must not do that work without being authorised, and a person conducting a business or undertaking must not direct or allow a worker to do it. Each of those two offences carries a tier C monetary penalty.

Section 85 says a person conducting a business or undertaking must not direct or allow a worker to carry out licensed high risk work unless the person sees written evidence from the worker that the worker holds the licence. The offence carries a tier G monetary penalty. The Act's Schedule 4 sets the dollar amounts for each tier and says they are indexed, so this page gives the tier names and not a dollar figure.

The crane classes in Schedule 3

Class	Use covered
Dogging	Dogging work
Basic, intermediate, advanced rigging	Basic includes dogging; intermediate lists cranes, hoists with jibs and dual lifts among its work
Vehicle loading crane	Capacity of 10 metre tonnes or more, including load estimation and slinging
Non-slewing mobile crane	Capacity exceeding 3 t
Slewing mobile crane	Capacity up to 20 t, up to 60 t, up to 100 t, or over 100 t
Tower, self-erecting tower, derrick, portal boom, bridge and gantry	One class each
Boom-type elevating work platform	Boom length of 11 m or more

Each slewing class also lists the lower crane uses within it. The class up to 20 t, for example, also lists a non-slewing mobile crane exceeding 3 t, a vehicle loading crane of 10 metre tonnes or more without load estimation and slinging, and a reach stacker. Schedule 3 also lists a separate reach stacker class for a machine of more than 3 t that lifts shipping containers.

Exceptions in section 82

A licence is not required for work done in the course of training towards certification under the supervision of a licence holder, and section 84 requires direct supervision in that case unless the task makes it impracticable or unnecessary and the reduced supervision places no one at risk. A person who holds certification for a specified VET course is not required to be licensed for 60 days after it is issued, and beyond that if an application is made inside the 60 days, until the licence is granted or 28 days after written notice of a refusal. Work done while an accredited assessor assesses the person is also excepted. Section 82 also excepts high risk work with plant done at a workplace solely for manufacture, testing, installation, repair, disposal and similar purposes, with no load apart from standard calibration weights. A person who only sets up or dismantles a crane or hoist and holds a rigging licence that qualifies for that work is not required to hold a crane operator licence.

Section 221 on tree lopping

Section 219 says the person managing or controlling plant must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that plant used to lift or suspend a load is specifically designed for it. Where that is not reasonably practicable, section 220 sets conditions for lifting a person with plant not designed for it, among them a work box securely attached to the plant and a safety harness where there is a risk of falling. Section 221 says the first two of those conditions, the work box and the person remaining substantially within it, do not apply to tree lopping where five things are all true. A risk assessment shows that lifting or suspending a person in a harness with a crane to place the person in the tree creates no greater risk than using plant designed to lift a person or climbing the tree. The lopping is done by a person competent in the use of the harness. A crane puts that person in the tree. The crane has safety mechanisms that would prevent the person from inadvertently falling. And while attached, the person is in visual, audio or radio communication with the crane operator.

The section defines the harness as a work positioning harness designed and certified under AS/NZS 1891.1:2020 for lifting and suspending a person. Standards Australia's catalogue lists that standard as Personal equipment for work at height, Part 1: Manufacturing requirements for full body combination and lower body harnesses, published in 2020 by committee SF-015, Industrial Height Safety Equipment. The breaches of section 219 carry a tier E monetary penalty.