Can a trainee do pest control? What each state says

The person at your door

In each of these states, a pest controller starts as a person tied to another person.

Victoria’s trainee licence authorises only the classes of pesticide listed on it, and only under a fully qualified operator who is authorised for those same classes.

A fully licensed person can still be tethered in Queensland.

At a high-risk or sensitive place, a technician follows the activity risk management plan and either holds the authorisation for that place or is supervised by a technician who does.

Source: Victorian Department of Health, operator guidelines; Queensland Health, licence activities for high-risk and sensitive places.

How closely each state supervises

Supervision, state by state
State	The state’s words	What it asks
WA	“in the presence of, and under the close and continuous supervision of, a licensed technician who is authorised to undertake the treatment”	The supervisor is there, close, throughout the treatment.
VIC	“within direct sight and hearing range … at all times”	The supervisor can see and hear the trainee while the pesticide is applied.
NSW	“a more indirect degree of supervision”, if the supervisor is satisfied the trainee is competent and no one’s health or safety is endangered	The trainee works on a training permit, and the supervisor must hold the licence for the work.
QLD	“an electronic communications device e.g. phone, two-way radio”, at high-risk or sensitive places	A licensed technician without the authorisation stays in contact with one who holds it.
SA	“without their supervisor being physically present”, for some limited technicians	A limited technician who has completed the pesticide safety part of their studies may be authorised to work under indirect supervision: within sight or sound of a supervising full technician, telephone included. The approval is issued in writing.

Source: WA legislation, Health (Pesticides) Regulations 2011; Victorian Department of Health, trainee licences; NSW EPA, pest management technicians and training permits; Queensland Health, licence activities for high-risk and sensitive places; SA Health, engaging a licensed pest control business.

What changes when the tie lengthens

In Victoria the tie is loosened one pest at a time.

A trainee applies pesticides for a particular pest, ants for example, under direct supervision until they have the knowledge and skills to work on that pest under indirect supervision.

Getting there has a count attached: at least four pesticide applications against a pest, completed under direct supervision. The same minimum appears in the department’s operator guidelines.

The count is not the last step. The department accepts that the four applications were completed successfully when it receives the supervisor’s declaration on a Trainee skills declaration form, and once it has approved the form it emails the trainee, their nominated supervisor or both with the trainee’s new supervisory status.

Under indirect supervision the trainee stays within indirect sight or hearing range, which may include telephone or two-way radio.

Western Australia names its looser tie differently. A person working under direction acts on the instructions of a licensed technician, under that technician’s regular and frequent supervision, rather than in their presence.

In South Australia, some limited technicians who have completed the pesticide safety component of their studies may be authorised to work under indirect supervision. They must stay within sight or sound of a supervising full technician, and a telephone counts.

New South Wales starts the clock before the tie is formal.

The EPA’s exemption lets a trainee begin work for up to 84 days without enrolling in an approved course of training.

The date the work started must be reported to the EPA within five days.

Source: Victorian Department of Health, trainee licences; Victorian Department of Health, operator guidelines; WA legislation, Health (Pesticides) Regulations 2011; SA Health, engaging a licensed pest control business; NSW EPA, pest management technicians and training permits.

What a customer can check

Three checks are written into the states’ own customer advice.

The first is Victoria’s: trainee photo ID cards are printed on a green background, and red licences go only to fully qualified technicians, so the colour of the card answers the question before any words are exchanged.

The second is the endorsement.

A Western Australian licence carries an endorsement on the front of the card, naming the pesticide treatments its holder is qualified for.

South Australian licences carry endorsements for the pest problems their holder has trained in, and SA Health’s advice is to check the endorsements and the expiry date at the door. Approval for a limited technician to work under indirect supervision is issued in writing, so you can ask to see the letter of approval, or confirm it with Controlled Substances Licensing by emailing HealthControlledSubstances@sa.gov.au.

The third is the supervisor.

In New South Wales, a person may supervise a trainee only while holding the licence for the kind of work being done, so the trainee’s card is only half the answer.

Source: Victorian Department of Health, licence applications; HealthyWA, how to choose a pest management business; SA Health, engaging a licensed pest control business; NSW EPA, pest management technicians and training permits.

Why the words differ

Each state writes the tie differently: Western Australia by presence, Victoria by sight and hearing, South Australia by training completed and approval in writing.

Queensland adds the place to the question.

At high-risk or sensitive places, Queensland Health says, a licensed technician without the authorisation can be supervised by phone or two-way radio.

Queensland’s regulation defines a sensitive place as a building used for aged care, child care or schooling, or as a hospital, with adjacent land included.

Source: WA legislation, Health (Pesticides) Regulations 2011; Victorian Department of Health, trainee licences; SA Health, engaging a licensed pest control business; Queensland Health, licence activities for high-risk and sensitive places; Queensland legislation, Medicines and Poisons (Pest Management Activities) Regulation 2021.

The regulators are the Victorian Department of Health, the NSW Environment Protection Authority, Queensland Health, the WA Department of Health, SA Health and NRE Tasmania.

Each governs who may treat your home in its own state.