New South Wales

In NSW training in pesticide use is an EPA requirement.

Training in pesticide use is required under the Pesticides Regulation 2017.

If you use pesticides as part of your work or for reward, you must:

• complete initial accreditation training provided by a Registered Training Organisation  prior to using pesticides for the first time

OR

• Update your training within 5 years of your previous training.

You can

• do a short course, including modules from the AHC Agriculture, Horticulture and Conservation and Land Management Training Package that is provided by a Registered Training Organisation.
• The course MUST contain the following Units of Competency:
  • AHCCHM304 Transport and store chemicals
  • AHCCHM307 Prepare and apply chemicals to control pests, weeds and diseases

The EPA strongly encourages people who must be trained to seek training that is appropriate for their level of work and experience.

From 1 July 2018 individuals who spray weeds for fee or reward must hold a Ground Applicator Licence.

If you engage or contract a ground applicator it is your responsibility to ensure they hold the required licence.

Ground applicator licences only to apply to private operators who are commercial service providers.

A ground applicator licence does not allow you to work as a pest management technician, a fumigator or to apply pesticides from an aircraft – this work requires different licenses and training. Clause 6 of the Pesticides Regulation 2017 contains more information on what is considered ‘prescribed work’ and therefore requires a licence.

Exemptions from requirement to hold a Ground Applicators License

If you are an individual undertaking any of the following activities (which are not defined as ‘prescribed work’) you are not required to hold a ground applicator licence, but these activities may require training:

• if you are performing the work as an employee of a local or State public authority on public land
• for farmers or their employees using pesticides on their own land, or land belonging to a family member
• in amenity horticulture (including ground and garden maintenance, golf course maintenance, landscaping, floriculture, arboriculture, operations of a nursery)
• for bush care/bush regeneration (maintaining or restoring native plant communities)
• for any spraying of plants that falls within the domestic like use exemption
• if your pesticide use is only for the selling, testing, maintaining or disposing of equipment used in licenced work

For more details consult clause 6 of the Pesticides Regulation 2017.

Applications for all pesticides licences may be submitted online using eConnect EPA.

To apply for a ground applicator licence, supply:

• proof of identity and age (you must be 18 years old or older)
• copies of the statement of attainment or qualifications from a registered training organisation as proof you have successfully completed the training
• a passport-style photograph taken within 6 months before applying
• the fee for an application made on or after 1 July 2022 is $425 for a 5 year licence. The fee is applicable to each licence type so if you are applying for other licence types as well you must indicate this on your application and you will be issued one card for multiple licence types.

Note that:

• the fee can be paid by credit card or EFT
• fees are subject to a Consumer Price Index increase each July
• licences are awarded to an individual and cannot be awarded to a business or a business name
• licences are valid for 5 years or for 1 year – 1-year licenses have a reduced fee.

Renewing or Replacing a License

You must apply for a new licence within 60 days of the expiry date. The renewal fee is $425 for applications made on or after 1 July 2022. The EPA will send current licence holders a reminder notice and a renewal application form in the months before the expiry date.

You can apply to renew your licence using eConnect EPA.

If your licence has been lost, damaged, destroyed or stolen, complete the licence replacement application form. The cost of replacing your licence is $26 for applications made on or after 1 July 2022. You can also use this form if your licence contains a printing error or was not received (there is no charge for this).

Yes, Record Keeping is Compulsory.

All people who use pesticides as part of their job must record their pesticide use. Records provide vital information if an incident occurs, protect the pesticide user by providing evidence they used pesticides responsibly, and help track the effectiveness of pesticides.

The record must be

• made within 48 hours of using the pesticide
• kept for 3 years

Who must keep records?

It is the responsibility of the person applying the pesticide to make sure that an accurate record of that application has been made. However, if you are unable to write the information down then someone else can write down the record for you but it is up to you, the pesticide user, to make sure the record is accurate.

Under Part 4 of the Pesticides Regulation 2017, it is compulsory for all people who use pesticides for commercial or occupational purposes to record their pesticide use. This includes farmers, market gardeners, parkland and green keepers, nursery operators, pest management technicians, fumigators, ground rig operators, landlords, landscape gardeners, local councils and government agencies, and other people who use pesticides as part of their job.

Licensed pesticide users must record extra information in their records of pesticide use which are specified under clause 36(2) of the Pesticides Regulation 2017. There are also specific records of pesticide use, under Part 2, clause 26(4) of the Pesticides Regulation 2017, required for licensed businesses that aerially apply pesticides.

Aerial operators may need to record written evidence of prior consent from the occupiers of nearby properties under pesticide control order Air-1.

Important note: If a pesticide label or Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) permit requires that you make a record of pesticide use, you must do so, in accordance with the conditions stated, even if you do not normally have to make and keep records.

You do not need to make a record when you use pesticides around your own home or garden, or when using things such as personal insect repellents, cockroach baits or flea powders on pets or pesticides unless the label requires you to make a record.

What information must be recorded?

Who applied the pesticide

Record the name, address and contact telephone numbers of the person who applied the pesticide. If a contractor or employee applied it, they need to record their name as well as the name, address and contact details of their employer.

The names, addresses and contact details need to be complete. Record

• first name and last name, not nicknames
• the full property address and telephone numbers
• email, fax and mobile phone numbers

If you are the on-site supervisor for a public authority, for example, you are supervising a council work team treating a weed infestation, you need to record the names of all volunteers, trainees or paid members of the team you are supervising to apply pesticides. This applies where pesticides are applied by hand or with hand-held equipment.

However, if non hand-held equipment is used, all users in the team would need to make an individual record.

When you applied the pesticide

Record the date you applied the pesticide.

Details of the pesticide you used

Record the full product name of the pesticide that you used. This is usually found below the warning statements (signal headings) at the top of the label and above the active constituent information. A product name may include letters or numbers as part of its name and these must be recorded too. For example, ‘glyphosate’ is insufficient while ‘Bloggs Glyphosate 360 Herbicide’ would be correct.

Aerial operators must also record the active constituent(s) in the product applied.

Details of where the pesticide was used

Name the situation in which you used the pesticide. For example,

• spraying crops such as wheat, coriander or macadamia
• using a pesticide on flowers such as chrysanthemums
• spraying fallow land
• applying a pesticide to rooms in a house

Be as specific as possible. For example, record the exact vegetables you sprayed such as ‘spinach and onions’, do not just record ‘vegetables’.

How much pesticide you used

Record the

• total amount of pesticide mix you made up and used
• rate of application, that is, how much of the product was applied, either as concentrated formulation or ready-to-use mix
• area covered in the application, for example, 5 square metres or 50 hectares

Where you applied the pesticide

Record the property address and a delineation of the area where the pesticide was released. You could use a sketch or map of the property with blocks or paddocks marked on it to show the specific areas of the property you treated.

Alternatively, you could record the area on a map that shows surrounding roads, streets, fences, waterways or other landmarks that indicate the boundaries of the property and the areas where you applied pesticides.

Weather – wind speed and direction

If you are outdoors and spraying pesticide through the air, you need to record an estimate of the wind strength and direction, for example, ‘a light breeze was blowing from the north-east’. You do not need special equipment for this. Estimating wind speed by using the Beaufort Scale which relies on the movement of trees, flags or smoke is acceptable. Details can be found on the Bureau of Meterology website.

You also need to record any significant weather changes during the application, for example, when a change in weather conditions increases the risk of spray drift.

The best wind conditions for applying pesticides are when the wind is blowing lightly and steadily away from sensitive areas. The document Spray Drift Management: Principles, Strategies and Supporting Information published in 2002 by the Primary Industries Standing Committee and CSIRO Publications provides guidance on managing spray drift.

If the pesticide you are using does not travel through the air, for example, dipping fruit or vegetables after harvest or laying pest baits, you do not need to record weather details.