Do I need a licence to operate an excavator in NSW?

The two families of machine

An excavator is earthmoving machinery, and a bobcat, which the trade calls a skid steer loader, is earthmoving machinery too. In New South Wales, the excavation work code of practice gives that family’s rule: some types of powered mobile plant need a licensed operator, and earthmoving machinery mostly does not, so long as it is being used for the purpose it was originally designed for.

One note matters when a machine is set up to lift. SafeWork NSW’s licence page records, under its slewing mobile crane entry, that the class does not include a front end loader, a backhoe, an excavator or other earthmoving equipment when it is configured for crane operation.

The duty that stands in a class’s place is about the person, not the machine. SafeWork NSW’s page on excavations and earthmoving plant in construction states it in the page’s own words: “You must: ensure that an operator of the plant is competent and is provided the appropriate information, instruction, training and supervision to work safely”.

The regulator’s excavation page states the same duty for load-shifting equipment: its operators must be given adequate information, training, instruction and supervision to work safely.

In New South Wales, the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 gives that training a standard to meet: information, training and instruction given to a worker has to be suitable and adequate for the work the worker does, the risks that come with it and the control measures in place, and, so far as is reasonably practicable, it has to be given in a way the worker can readily understand.

The excavation code adds the standard an operator should be able to meet: an earthmoving machinery operator should be able to show competence on the specific type of plant being used, attachments included.

These are New South Wales rules, and they read the same in Sydney as anywhere else in the state. What moves the answer is the machine, whether earthmoving machinery is used for the purpose it was originally designed for, and, with a telehandler, the fitting.

The machines a class covers, and the machines it does not cover in most cases

Size and cost do not decide which group a machine falls into. SafeWork NSW’s licence page states the general rule first: a high risk work licence is needed, generally, for high risk work that is residential, commercial or industrial, whatever the cost or size of the work. What decides is the machine itself and, for earthmoving machinery, whether it is used for the purpose it was originally designed for.

The table reads each machine against that page and against the duty that fills the gap where no class applies. Each row names the page and entry the answer is read from.

For each machine: whether a high risk work licence class covers it, the class or the competency line, and where the answer is read
Plant	Covered by a class?	The class, or the competency line	Where it is read
The mini excavator	No licence class; earthmoving machinery used for the purpose it was originally designed for needs no licensed operator in most cases	A competent operator, with information, instruction, training and supervision	SafeWork NSW: Excavation work code of practice, Powered mobile plant; Excavations and earthmoving plant in construction, Plant and operators
The skid steer loader, the machine usually called a bobcat	No licence class in most cases, when it is used for the purpose it was originally designed for; it is earthmoving machinery, in the same family as the excavator	A competent operator, with information, instruction, training and supervision	SafeWork NSW: Excavation work code of practice, Powered mobile plant; Excavations and earthmoving plant in construction, Plant and operators
The backhoe loader	No licence class in most cases, when it is used for the purpose it was originally designed for; earthmoving machinery, and a backhoe is named among the machines the slewing mobile crane class does not include	A competent operator, with information, instruction, training and supervision	SafeWork NSW: Excavation work code of practice; High risk work licences, Slewing mobile cranes
The telehandler, with forks or a bucket	No licence class: the training duty stays with the business	Appropriate training to operate the telehandler	SafeWork NSW: High risk work licences, Telehandlers
The telehandler, with a personnel box and a boom of 11 metres or more	Yes: WP	Boom-type elevating work platform (WP), where the box holds the operating controls and the boom runs to 11 metres or more	SafeWork NSW: High risk work licences, Telehandlers
The slewing telehandler, with a hoist rope or a hook block	Yes: one of the four slewing mobile crane classes	C2, C6, C1 or C0, by the telehandler’s rated capacity	SafeWork NSW: High risk work licences, Telehandler
The forklift truck	Yes: LF	Forklift truck (LF): a mast and an elevating load carriage, with fork arms or another attachment	SafeWork NSW: High risk work licences, Forklift truck (LF)
The order-picking forklift truck	Yes: LO	Order-picking forklift truck (LO): the operator’s controls rise with the load carriage	SafeWork NSW: High risk work licences, Order-picking forklift truck (LO)
The boom-type elevating work platform	Yes: WP, at a boom length of 11 metres or more	Boom-type elevating work platform (WP)	SafeWork NSW: High risk work licences, Boom-type elevating work platform (WP)
The slewing mobile crane, up to 20 t	Yes: C2	Up to 20 t (C2), one of four slewing mobile crane classes, each with a different capacity	SafeWork NSW: High risk work licences, Slewing mobile cranes

If the machine you are hiring is a telehandler, the fitting is what decides.

The telehandler turns on its fitting

SafeWork NSW’s licence page gives each fitting on a telehandler’s boom its own line, so the answer changes with the attachment.

Fitted with forks or a bucket, a telehandler needs no high risk work licence. The business keeps a duty of care, though, to make sure the workers operating it have appropriate training.

Fitted with a personnel box that has its operating controls in the box, and with a boom length of 11 metres or greater, the class required is a boom-type elevating work platform (WP).

Where the telehandler slews, and it is fitted with a boom or a jib carrying a hoist rope, a hook block, or both, the class required is a slewing mobile crane class: C2, C6, C1 or C0, depending on the telehandler’s rated capacity.

SafeWork NSW lists non-slewing telehandlers of over three tonnes capacity, fitted with a boom or a jib with a hoist rope or a hook block, among the non-slewing mobile cranes, class CN.

For a telehandler outside the cases SafeWork NSW’s forklift page lists as needing a licence, that page says site-specific training is what the workers need.

Where 11 metres comes from is measured, not assumed. If a boom-type elevating work platform’s boom can be measured two ways, SafeWork NSW says to use the longer of the two: the vertical distance from the surface supporting the platform to its floor, and the horizontal distance from the centre of the boom’s rotation to the outer edge of the platform, each with the platform extended as far as it will go.

The evidence a business has to keep

A licence changes who may run a machine, and it leaves a record behind. In New South Wales, the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 forbids putting a worker on high risk work that needs a licence, or letting a worker take it on, until the business has seen written evidence that the worker holds the licence for that work.

Keeping the record is part of the duty. The same regulation requires it to be kept for at least one year after the high risk work is carried out.

SafeWork NSW’s code of practice for plant states the same duty: the written evidence of the licence has to be seen before a worker is put on high risk work that needs one. The licence page adds a rule worth keeping close: always carry your high risk work licence with you when you’re at work.

The excavation code puts the baseline plainly: workers operating certain types of plant must hold a valid licence to operate that plant.

Trainees are inside the same frame. On a forklift, a trainee may operate the machine only while enrolled with a registered training organisation and directly supervised by a person who is appropriately licensed and experienced.

Where a licence comes from

A licence is issued after training and assessment by a registered training organisation. Safe Work Australia names those organisations as the trainers and assessors for high risk work licences, and points to training.gov.au to find the ones approved to deliver that training.

Nationally, Safe Work Australia’s duties tool sets out what a business has to have in place: workers with a valid and current licence for the high risk work they do, and any other information, training, instruction or supervision that protecting people from work health and safety risks needs.

For a machine that needs no class, Safe Work Australia’s training guidance puts the duty in plain words: workers must have supervised, hands-on training in the tasks they will perform before they start a job.

Sources for this page

Based on content from the New South Wales Legislation website at 21 January 2026. For the latest information on New South Wales Government legislation please go to https://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au.

General information only: check SafeWork NSW and your council before you hire.