Site induction requirements in every Australian state

Short answer: only Victoria requires site-specific training by regulation (r 330). Every other state relies on the general duty to give workers the information, training and instruction they need, and on a construction project the principal contractor must make each worker aware of the WHS management plan before they start (r 310). Housing is treated differently in Queensland, SA and WA.

The table is the quick version, checked against each state's own legislation and regulator on 15 October 2026. Each state has its own guide with the sources.

Site induction rules by state

The general duty, explained

Every state and territory except Victoria uses the harmonised WHS laws, and in all of them the induction duty is built the same way.

Section 19(3)(f) of the WHS Act requires a PCBU to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, "the provision of any information, training, instruction or supervision that is necessary to protect all persons from risks to their health and safety". That applies on every job, whatever it costs.

Regulation 39 says the information, training and instruction must be suitable and adequate for the work, the risks and the controls in place, and readily understandable by the person receiving it. A sheet of legal text signed at the gate rarely meets that.

On a construction project, three more duties fall on the principal contractor:

• write a WHS management plan before work starts, including any site-specific rules and how everyone will be told about them (regulation 309)
• make each person aware of the plan, and of their right to inspect it, before they start construction work (regulation 310)
• keep the plan until the project is finished, and for at least 2 years after a connected notifiable incident (regulation 313)

White cards. Nobody may do construction work without general construction induction training (regulation 317), and a card from another state is recognised (regulation 318). Someone who has been out of construction work for 2 years needs to do the training again. The card covers construction in general, so it never replaces the site induction.

SWMS. High risk construction work needs a safe work method statement before it starts. In most places that includes a risk of falling more than 2 metres. The NT raised it to 3 metres for residential construction work in July 2026. The induction is the natural moment for a worker to read the SWMS for their task.

Records. No state or territory sets a retention period for induction records. Five years is a safe benchmark: it matches how long notifiable incident records must be kept under the harmonised Acts (section 38(7)), and it outlasts the plan and SWMS for most jobs.

What changes from state to state

Whether housing is treated differently. Queensland and South Australia both say a site-specific induction isn't compulsory on housing, but each still expects the site's safety information to reach the people doing the work. WA's Code says the opposite: on housing, PCBUs must provide workplace specific training. Victoria's regulation 330 has no housing exemption.

When a job becomes a construction project. That's the point where the principal contractor needs a WHS management plan and has to make every worker aware of it. The threshold is $250,000 in NSW, Queensland, Tasmania and the ACT, $350,000 in Victoria, $450,000 in South Australia and $1,000,000 in the Northern Territory. WA uses a headcount of 5 or more people working at the same time, which catches many house builds.

Local additions. The ACT treats any loose-fill asbestos job as a construction project and adds crystalline silica processing to its high risk work list. The NT's 3 metre residential fall trigger is the newest change anywhere.

What every induction should include

Whatever the state, the same short list covers it: the site rules and hours, access and security, the hazards on this site right now, the emergency procedure and assembly point, first aid and amenities, who to report a safety issue to, and the SWMS for the work the person is about to do. Then keep a dated record of who was inducted.

The free site induction checklist builder lays those areas out, and the SWMS and site induction checker tells you what applies to a job in your state.

Running it from the gate

Foreman's site inductions give every site its own QR sign. Workers scan it with their phone camera, read your site rules and SWMS in the browser, enter their white card number and emergency contact, and sign. Subbies and visitors who only induct are never billed.

On paper, use the free site induction register or the subcontractor induction form.

---

This page summarises general obligations and is not legal advice. Laws change, so check the guide for your state and its sources, or ask your regulator.