Crane operator rules in the Northern 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 (National Uniform Legislation) Regulations 2011 as in force at July 17, 2026, the Work Health and Safety (National Uniform Legislation) Act 2011 as in force at February 1, 2020, both from the Northern Territory legislation site, and the Standards Australia catalogue entry for the harness standard the tree lopping regulation 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 (National Uniform Legislation) Act 2011, section 43, and the Regulations, Part 4.5, regulation 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 (regulation 92)
Other jurisdictions	Regulation 83 treats an equivalent licence granted under a corresponding WHS law as a licence, while it is used on its terms and has not been suspended, cancelled or expired
Tree work	Regulation 221 covers a crane used to put a competent person in a tree to lop it

The licence rule

Regulation 81 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 regulation 82 provides. Schedule 3 sets out the licences and classes and Schedule 4 the qualifications. Regulation 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 the Regulations require 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. The Act as read lists a maximum of AU$20,000 for an individual and AU$100,000 for a body corporate for each of those two offences.

Regulation 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 listed maximum is AU$3,600 for an individual and AU$18,000 for a body corporate. Regulation 84, on direct supervision of a person working under the training exception, lists AU$6,000 and AU$30,000.

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 exceeding 100 t
Tower, self-erecting tower, derrick, portal boom, bridge and gantry	One class each

Each slewing class also lists the lower crane uses within it, such as a non-slewing mobile crane exceeding 3 t and a vehicle loading crane of 10 metre tonnes or more without load estimation and slinging.

Exceptions in regulation 82

A licence is not required for work done in the course of training towards certification under the supervision of a licence holder. 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, as is high risk work with plant 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. Subregulation (5) is one more exception: a person who carries out high risk work with a heritage boiler is not required to be licensed as a boiler operator.

Regulation 221 on tree lopping

Regulation 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, regulation 220 sets conditions for lifting a person with plant not designed for it, among them a work box securely attached to the plant, with the person remaining substantially within it. Regulation 221 says paragraphs (a) and (b) of regulation 220(1), the work box conditions, 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 regulation 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. Regulation 219 lists AU$6,000 for an individual and AU$30,000 for a body corporate for the subregulations it prints those figures against.