Under the NSW Pesticides Act 1999 anyone who uses pesticides in his job or business must be trained and hold a valid licence.

The term pesticides includes herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, bactericides, baits, lures and rodenticides (rat poison).

Also, under the Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) Act 2011, anyone who uses hazardous chemicals must be trained.

ChemCert AQF 3 Accreditation enables participants to use, purchase and spray restricted chemicals and pesticides unsupervised and it is recognised by the Office of Environment and Heritage as meeting the training requirements of the NSW Pesticides Act 1999.

If you use pesticides as part of your work you should be aware there have been some changes to training and licensing requirements in NSW. From 1 July 2018 individuals who spray weeds for fee or reward must hold a ground applicator licence. If you engage or contract a ground applicator it is your responsibility to ensure they hold the required licence.

Please view the factsheet from the EPA if you are unsure about whether your work requires the licence

To apply for a ground applicator licence you need to have completed the ChemCert AQF3 Chemical Accreditation and attained the units. These training requirements, including the approved units of competency, can be found on the EPA website. The licence period is five years; in order to reapply you must hold a current ground applicator licence.

You can do this online, simply navigate to the following EPA hosted application page.

You will need to have a copy of your AQF3 Chemical Accreditation Certificate/SOA to provide the EPA as part of the application process.

Once you have obtained your ground applicator licence you will not be required to complete the five-yearly retraining as long as you hold a current licence. However, it is always a good idea to ensure you keep your work skills up to date with regular training for best management practice.

The training provided on 1080 use is minimal, but does cover the basic safety and use. For more indepth training, you may complete the LLS course for more specific training.

The 1080 and pindone pesticide control orders set out training requirements for the use of these pesticides. Within the last 5 years, you must have completed

• Mandatory pesticide user training to AQF level 3, or
• The Vertebrate Pesticide Training course delivered through Local Land Services

Note: If you use pesticides, other than vertebrate pesticides, you would be required to meet the general training requirements under the Pesticides Regulation 2017.

For more information on 1080 use requirements please visit the NSW EPA website.

In South Australia, Schedule 7 chemicals may only be sold or supplied to a person who holds a current Chemical Accreditation, like ChemCert AQF3, or to a person who holds a pest control licence issued by SA Health (see below).

The Chemical Accreditation card expires after 5 years, at which time a Re-Accreditation is required. The expectation to attend further training every 5 years recognises the fact that legislation and best-practices might change significantly over time.

In addition to the legal requirements for chemical training, most quality assurance programs for primary producers require formal chemical training for those who use chemical substances in their workplace.

Persons wishing to apply Schedule 5, 6 or 7 pesticides for fee or reward (e.g. spray contractors, commercial operators) in SA are required to hold the appropriate licence or licences under the SA Controlled Substances (Pesticides) Regulations.

To be eligible to apply for a Full Pest Management Technician’s licence in SA, additional modules of training are required depending on what licence endorsement or type of pest control work is intended to be undertaken. Please contact Controlled Substances Licensing, SA Health on (08) 8226 7100 or healthcontrolledsubstances@sa.gov.au to find out more about pest control licensing.