Insurables — Australian business risk, sourced and dated

Crane operators: tools of trade requirements in Australia

Cover for hand and power tools against theft and damage, commonly the most-claimed class for trades.

Data as at

Verified requirements, by state

  • Licence liability condition: No insurance condition attaches to the licence. SafeWork NSW's published eligibility and application requirements for high-risk work licences do not require public liability, professional indemnity or workers compensation insurance from the applicant. Note what this licence is: a high-risk work licence is issued to an INDIVIDUAL WORKER to perform the work, not to a business to trade. Insurance duties in New South Wales attach to the business — the person conducting a business or undertaking — rather than to the worker holding the ticket, which is why the licence itself carries no insurance condition. A verified negative established from the absence of any insurance requirement in the licensing requirements, not from an express statement that none applies. NSW · effective 2012-01-01 SafeWork NSW · 2026-08-24
  • Licence evidence required: No insurance evidence is required for the licence itself, because no insurance condition attaches to it. Evidence obligations in practice come from elsewhere — the business's own workers compensation duty, and whatever the principal contractor or site access conditions require before the worker sets foot on site. NSW · effective 2012-01-01 SafeWork NSW · 2026-08-24
  • Licensing body: SafeWork NSW, under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW) and the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2017 (NSW). The relevant credential is a high-risk work licence covering crane and hoist operation, across twelve crane classes plus reach stacker and concrete-placing boom classes. Note what this licence is: a high-risk work licence is issued to an INDIVIDUAL WORKER to perform the work, not to a business to trade. Insurance duties in New South Wales attach to the business — the person conducting a business or undertaking — rather than to the worker holding the ticket, which is why the licence itself carries no insurance condition. NSW · effective 2012-01-01 SafeWork NSW · 2026-08-24
  • Licence liability condition: No insurance condition, in any jurisdiction. A high-risk work licence is a WORKER qualification, not a business licence: it certifies that a person is competent to perform the work. Insurance duties in Australian WHS law attach to the person conducting a business or undertaking, so there is nothing on the ticket for a condition to attach to. Published licensing requirements deal with competency and administration, and do not mention insurance at all. VIC · effective 2004-07-01 Safe Work Australia · 2026-08-24
  • Licence evidence required: None for the licence. What a scaffolder, rigger or crane operator is actually asked to produce comes from the business they work for, the principal contractor, or the site access conditions — commercial requirements, not licensing ones. VIC · effective 2004-07-01 Safe Work Australia · 2026-08-24
  • Licensing body: The state or territory work health and safety regulator, through a high-risk work licence covering crane and hoist operation across the crane classes, plus reach stacker and concrete-placing boom. THE STRUCTURAL POINT, because it governs everything else: work health and safety law is harmonised across most of Australia under the model WHS laws, but not all of it. The Commonwealth, ACT, NSW, NT and Queensland implemented the model laws on 1 January 2012; South Australia and Tasmania on 1 January 2013; Western Australia passed its version on 10 November 2020 and it became operational on 31 March 2022. VICTORIA IS THE ONLY JURISDICTION THAT HAS NOT IMPLEMENTED THEM, and continues under its own Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 — on the reasoning that its existing laws were already close to the model. The practical consequence for this trade is good news: the licence CLASSES are the same across jurisdictions, so a ticket earned in one state is recognised in the others. VIC · effective 2004-07-01 Safe Work Australia · 2026-08-24
  • Licence liability condition: No insurance condition, in any jurisdiction. A high-risk work licence is a WORKER qualification, not a business licence: it certifies that a person is competent to perform the work. Insurance duties in Australian WHS law attach to the person conducting a business or undertaking, so there is nothing on the ticket for a condition to attach to. Published licensing requirements deal with competency and administration, and do not mention insurance at all. QLD · effective 2012-01-01 Safe Work Australia · 2026-08-24
  • Licence evidence required: None for the licence. What a scaffolder, rigger or crane operator is actually asked to produce comes from the business they work for, the principal contractor, or the site access conditions — commercial requirements, not licensing ones. QLD · effective 2012-01-01 Safe Work Australia · 2026-08-24
  • Licensing body: The state or territory work health and safety regulator, through a high-risk work licence covering crane and hoist operation across the crane classes, plus reach stacker and concrete-placing boom. THE STRUCTURAL POINT, because it governs everything else: work health and safety law is harmonised across most of Australia under the model WHS laws, but not all of it. The Commonwealth, ACT, NSW, NT and Queensland implemented the model laws on 1 January 2012; South Australia and Tasmania on 1 January 2013; Western Australia passed its version on 10 November 2020 and it became operational on 31 March 2022. VICTORIA IS THE ONLY JURISDICTION THAT HAS NOT IMPLEMENTED THEM, and continues under its own Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 — on the reasoning that its existing laws were already close to the model. The practical consequence for this trade is good news: the licence CLASSES are the same across jurisdictions, so a ticket earned in one state is recognised in the others. QLD · effective 2012-01-01 Safe Work Australia · 2026-08-24
  • Licence liability condition: No insurance condition, in any jurisdiction. A high-risk work licence is a WORKER qualification, not a business licence: it certifies that a person is competent to perform the work. Insurance duties in Australian WHS law attach to the person conducting a business or undertaking, so there is nothing on the ticket for a condition to attach to. Published licensing requirements deal with competency and administration, and do not mention insurance at all. WA · effective 2022-03-31 Safe Work Australia · 2026-08-24
  • Licence evidence required: None for the licence. What a scaffolder, rigger or crane operator is actually asked to produce comes from the business they work for, the principal contractor, or the site access conditions — commercial requirements, not licensing ones. WA · effective 2022-03-31 Safe Work Australia · 2026-08-24
  • Licensing body: The state or territory work health and safety regulator, through a high-risk work licence covering crane and hoist operation across the crane classes, plus reach stacker and concrete-placing boom. THE STRUCTURAL POINT, because it governs everything else: work health and safety law is harmonised across most of Australia under the model WHS laws, but not all of it. The Commonwealth, ACT, NSW, NT and Queensland implemented the model laws on 1 January 2012; South Australia and Tasmania on 1 January 2013; Western Australia passed its version on 10 November 2020 and it became operational on 31 March 2022. VICTORIA IS THE ONLY JURISDICTION THAT HAS NOT IMPLEMENTED THEM, and continues under its own Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 — on the reasoning that its existing laws were already close to the model. The practical consequence for this trade is good news: the licence CLASSES are the same across jurisdictions, so a ticket earned in one state is recognised in the others. WA · effective 2022-03-31 Safe Work Australia · 2026-08-24
  • Licence liability condition: No insurance condition, in any jurisdiction. A high-risk work licence is a WORKER qualification, not a business licence: it certifies that a person is competent to perform the work. Insurance duties in Australian WHS law attach to the person conducting a business or undertaking, so there is nothing on the ticket for a condition to attach to. Published licensing requirements deal with competency and administration, and do not mention insurance at all. SA · effective 2013-01-01 Safe Work Australia · 2026-08-24
  • Licence evidence required: None for the licence. What a scaffolder, rigger or crane operator is actually asked to produce comes from the business they work for, the principal contractor, or the site access conditions — commercial requirements, not licensing ones. SA · effective 2013-01-01 Safe Work Australia · 2026-08-24
  • Licensing body: The state or territory work health and safety regulator, through a high-risk work licence covering crane and hoist operation across the crane classes, plus reach stacker and concrete-placing boom. THE STRUCTURAL POINT, because it governs everything else: work health and safety law is harmonised across most of Australia under the model WHS laws, but not all of it. The Commonwealth, ACT, NSW, NT and Queensland implemented the model laws on 1 January 2012; South Australia and Tasmania on 1 January 2013; Western Australia passed its version on 10 November 2020 and it became operational on 31 March 2022. VICTORIA IS THE ONLY JURISDICTION THAT HAS NOT IMPLEMENTED THEM, and continues under its own Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 — on the reasoning that its existing laws were already close to the model. The practical consequence for this trade is good news: the licence CLASSES are the same across jurisdictions, so a ticket earned in one state is recognised in the others. SA · effective 2013-01-01 Safe Work Australia · 2026-08-24
  • Licence liability condition: No insurance condition, in any jurisdiction. A high-risk work licence is a WORKER qualification, not a business licence: it certifies that a person is competent to perform the work. Insurance duties in Australian WHS law attach to the person conducting a business or undertaking, so there is nothing on the ticket for a condition to attach to. Published licensing requirements deal with competency and administration, and do not mention insurance at all. TAS · effective 2013-01-01 Safe Work Australia · 2026-08-24
  • Licence evidence required: None for the licence. What a scaffolder, rigger or crane operator is actually asked to produce comes from the business they work for, the principal contractor, or the site access conditions — commercial requirements, not licensing ones. TAS · effective 2013-01-01 Safe Work Australia · 2026-08-24
  • Licensing body: The state or territory work health and safety regulator, through a high-risk work licence covering crane and hoist operation across the crane classes, plus reach stacker and concrete-placing boom. THE STRUCTURAL POINT, because it governs everything else: work health and safety law is harmonised across most of Australia under the model WHS laws, but not all of it. The Commonwealth, ACT, NSW, NT and Queensland implemented the model laws on 1 January 2012; South Australia and Tasmania on 1 January 2013; Western Australia passed its version on 10 November 2020 and it became operational on 31 March 2022. VICTORIA IS THE ONLY JURISDICTION THAT HAS NOT IMPLEMENTED THEM, and continues under its own Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 — on the reasoning that its existing laws were already close to the model. The practical consequence for this trade is good news: the licence CLASSES are the same across jurisdictions, so a ticket earned in one state is recognised in the others. TAS · effective 2013-01-01 Safe Work Australia · 2026-08-24
  • Licence liability condition: No insurance condition, in any jurisdiction. A high-risk work licence is a WORKER qualification, not a business licence: it certifies that a person is competent to perform the work. Insurance duties in Australian WHS law attach to the person conducting a business or undertaking, so there is nothing on the ticket for a condition to attach to. Published licensing requirements deal with competency and administration, and do not mention insurance at all. ACT · effective 2012-01-01 Safe Work Australia · 2026-08-24
  • Licence evidence required: None for the licence. What a scaffolder, rigger or crane operator is actually asked to produce comes from the business they work for, the principal contractor, or the site access conditions — commercial requirements, not licensing ones. ACT · effective 2012-01-01 Safe Work Australia · 2026-08-24
  • Licensing body: The state or territory work health and safety regulator, through a high-risk work licence covering crane and hoist operation across the crane classes, plus reach stacker and concrete-placing boom. THE STRUCTURAL POINT, because it governs everything else: work health and safety law is harmonised across most of Australia under the model WHS laws, but not all of it. The Commonwealth, ACT, NSW, NT and Queensland implemented the model laws on 1 January 2012; South Australia and Tasmania on 1 January 2013; Western Australia passed its version on 10 November 2020 and it became operational on 31 March 2022. VICTORIA IS THE ONLY JURISDICTION THAT HAS NOT IMPLEMENTED THEM, and continues under its own Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 — on the reasoning that its existing laws were already close to the model. The practical consequence for this trade is good news: the licence CLASSES are the same across jurisdictions, so a ticket earned in one state is recognised in the others. ACT · effective 2012-01-01 Safe Work Australia · 2026-08-24
  • Licence liability condition: No insurance condition, in any jurisdiction. A high-risk work licence is a WORKER qualification, not a business licence: it certifies that a person is competent to perform the work. Insurance duties in Australian WHS law attach to the person conducting a business or undertaking, so there is nothing on the ticket for a condition to attach to. Published licensing requirements deal with competency and administration, and do not mention insurance at all. NT · effective 2012-01-01 Safe Work Australia · 2026-08-24
  • Licence evidence required: None for the licence. What a scaffolder, rigger or crane operator is actually asked to produce comes from the business they work for, the principal contractor, or the site access conditions — commercial requirements, not licensing ones. NT · effective 2012-01-01 Safe Work Australia · 2026-08-24
  • Licensing body: The state or territory work health and safety regulator, through a high-risk work licence covering crane and hoist operation across the crane classes, plus reach stacker and concrete-placing boom. THE STRUCTURAL POINT, because it governs everything else: work health and safety law is harmonised across most of Australia under the model WHS laws, but not all of it. The Commonwealth, ACT, NSW, NT and Queensland implemented the model laws on 1 January 2012; South Australia and Tasmania on 1 January 2013; Western Australia passed its version on 10 November 2020 and it became operational on 31 March 2022. VICTORIA IS THE ONLY JURISDICTION THAT HAS NOT IMPLEMENTED THEM, and continues under its own Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 — on the reasoning that its existing laws were already close to the model. The practical consequence for this trade is good news: the licence CLASSES are the same across jurisdictions, so a ticket earned in one state is recognised in the others. NT · effective 2012-01-01 Safe Work Australia · 2026-08-24

What contracts commonly ask for

Principals and head contractors set their own insurance requirements, and those are frequently higher than a licence condition. The requirement that binds is the higher of the two, and both have to be read from the actual document.

What this cover costs

This site publishes no cost benchmark for this cover. A benchmark needs a real sample of documents, and none is published until the sample is large enough to compute a median honestly. A benchmark from a handful of policies is a guess with a decimal point.

Sources