What is a White Card?
A White Card, officially a general construction induction training card, shows that you’ve completed the safety induction training required before you carry out construction work in Australia. If you want to work in construction, it’s the first card you’ll need.
Each state and territory issues its own White Card, but the training is the same nationally recognised unit everywhere, so a valid White Card from one state is recognised in the others.
Before the national White Card, the states issued their own induction cards, such as the Queensland and Western Australian Blue Card, the Victorian Red Card and the NSW Green Card.
How do you get a White Card?
To be issued a White Card, you must successfully complete the nationally recognised unit of competency CPCWHS1001 - Prepare to work safely in the construction industry with a registered training organisation (RTO). When you complete the training, the RTO issues you with a Statement of Attainment for the unit.
As with any nationally recognised training, you must provide your Unique Student Identifier (USI) to enrol. You can create a USI for free in 5-10 minutes on the Government USI website.
You’ll also need basic English language, literacy and numeracy skills. For example, you need to be able to ask questions to clarify instructions, tell someone about a hazard, follow simple written safety instructions and complete a basic form.
How you receive the physical White Card depends on the state you train in.
White Card Queensland
In Queensland, White Cards are issued by RTOs that have an agreement with the regulator, Workplace Health and Safety Queensland (WHSQ). At Tradie Training, all our training centres issue White Cards on the day, so you leave the course with your White Card in hand, ready for work.
WHSQ requires the course to run for at least 4.5 hours, with no more than 15 students in a class.
You must bring 3 forms of identification displaying your name, with at least one of them also showing your photo. See the full QLD White Card ID requirements and special arrangements.
Tradie Training requires course participants to be at least 13 years old on the day of the training.
Tradie Training runs White Card courses on weekdays in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast.
White Card New South Wales
In NSW, White Cards are issued by SafeWork NSW. After you complete your training, the RTO sends your application to SafeWork NSW and gives you a Statement of Attainment. You can use the statement as proof of your training for 60 days while you wait for your card, and SafeWork NSW says most cards are issued within 30 days.
SafeWork NSW requires the course to run for at least 6 hours, and you must be at least 14 years old to get a NSW White Card. NSW also offers an optional digital White Card through Service NSW, but you must still carry your physical card.
White Card Victoria
In Victoria, White Cards are issued by WorkSafe Victoria. The RTO applies on your behalf after you complete the course, and WorkSafe Victoria says to expect your card in the mail up to 60 days after the course.
WorkSafe Victoria requires the course to run for at least 6 hours and to be delivered face-to-face. You must provide photo identification when you register and on the day of the course.
White Card Tasmania
In Tasmania, it is your own responsibility to apply for your White Card. The training must be completed in Tasmania, and you have 60 days from the date of your training to apply.
You lodge the application form, your Statement of Attainment and your evidence of identity documents at a Service Tasmania outlet, and pay a small application fee, which is listed on the form. The application form and full instructions are on WorkSafe Tasmania’s White Cards (construction induction) page.
If you complete the Tasmanian White Card course online, you’ll need to own or buy the PPE required for the training.
White Card Western Australia
In Western Australia, White Cards are issued by the RTO that delivered your training. WorkSafe WA keeps a construction induction card database where you can look up your card details and the RTO that issued it.
If you complete the WA White Card course online, you’ll need to own or buy the PPE required for the training.
White Card courses in SA, ACT & NT
Tradie Training doesn’t deliver the course in South Australia, the Australian Capital Territory or the Northern Territory. Contact SafeWork SA, WorkSafe ACT or NT WorkSafe for the requirements in those jurisdictions.
Who needs a White Card?
Anyone who carries out construction work needs a White Card. Under the WHS laws, a business must not direct or allow a worker to carry out construction work unless the worker has completed general construction induction training. This includes:
- Tradespeople and apprentices
- Labourers
- Site supervisors and site managers
- Surveyors, inspectors and other workers whose job involves construction work on site
Owner builders and the people helping them on site may need one too. See do owner builders need a White Card?
Construction work is defined broadly. It covers any work connected with the construction, alteration, renovation, repair, maintenance, demolition or dismantling of a structure, including related installation and testing, excavation and site preparation.
Your White Card doesn’t have an expiry date, but if you completed your training more than 2 years ago and haven’t done construction work in the last 2 years, you’ll need to complete the course again. Read more about whether a White Card expires, and about using your White Card in other states.
What does the White Card course teach?
The course covers the basic work health and safety knowledge you need on a construction site, to help prevent injuries and deaths in the construction industry. The topics include:
- Work health and safety laws, duty of care, and the roles, rights and responsibilities of business owners and workers
- Construction hazards, such as asbestos, electricity, excavations, working at heights, noise, dust and UV radiation, and the basic principles of risk management
- Safety signs, symbols and tags, and safety documents such as safe work method statements (SWMS)
- Reporting hazards, incidents and injuries
- Emergency procedures, accessing first aid and fire safety equipment
At Tradie Training, we go through the training material and questions as a group, with the trainer explaining each step of the way. The trainer can answer any questions you might have about construction work while going through the training. The training is completed on tablets that we provide using a custom-built training application, so there is no paperwork involved.
As part of the training and assessment, you must demonstrate correctly fitting the following 4 pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE):
- Hard hat
- Eye protection
- Hearing protection
- High visibility vest, shirt or jacket
The White Card course is general construction induction training (GCIT). It doesn’t replace the site-specific induction you’ll receive before starting work on a particular construction site.
For the full details of the unit, see our page on CPCWHS1001 - Prepare to work safely in the construction industry.
Can you do the White Card course online?
As of 2026, self-paced online White Card training is generally only available to residents of Western Australia and Tasmania. In the other states and territories, the training must be delivered face-to-face.
In Queensland, some RTOs that WHSQ has approved for it can deliver the course as a live online class, which WHSQ calls connected real time delivery. This is not self-paced online training: you join a virtual classroom by video conference with a trainer and assessor at a set date and time, and you need a computer with a webcam and the PPE required for the training. Tradie Training delivers the White Card course face-to-face only.
White Card online - What changed?
From 1 February 2019, WHSQ required all White Card training in Queensland to be delivered face-to-face. Before then, the Queensland course could be completed online, and because White Cards are recognised nationally, it was a popular option for people living in other states.
Here is what WorkSafe QLD had to say about the change:
Concerns about the effectiveness and quality of online training were raised by various stakeholders during the Best Practice Review of Workplace Health and Safety Queensland in 2017. In addition, similar concerns have been long held by work health and safety regulators in other jurisdictions including New South Wales and Victoria.
This arrangement aligns with those in Northern Territory, South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales, where online delivery of construction induction training is not permitted.
Training for a white card is delivered under a national competency standard, with mutual recognition between states. This change in requirements responds to industry concerns regarding the quality of online training which has placed the mutual recognition of Queensland issued white cards at risk.
Source: WorkSafe QLD eSafe newsletter, April 2019, Changes for white card construction induction training (archived copy, as the original page has been removed).
Read more about White Card online training.
If you have any questions about construction work, the course or support, feel free to contact us.
Ready to get started? Book your Queensland White Card course.