Search “EWP licence” and you’ll find three different cards being talked about as if they were the same thing: a WP high risk work licence, a Yellow Card, and something people keep calling an “EWP blue card”. They are not the same, only one of them is a legal licence, and one of them doesn’t exist at all. Here’s the plain version, and what your site will actually ask you for.
The short answer
If the boom on the machine is 11 metres or longer, you need a WP high risk work licence — a legal licence issued by your state regulator. If it’s under 11 metres, or it’s a scissor lift or vertical lift, there is no legal licence — but most sites will still ask for a Yellow Card, which is industry training, not a licence.
That single 11-metre line is what the whole thing turns on, and it’s measured on the boom, not on how high the platform goes.
The WP licence: the legal one
Safe Work Australia sets the national model: a high risk work licence is required to operate a boom-type elevating work platform where the length of the boom is 11 metres or more. The licence class is WP, and it’s the same code in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia.
To get one you complete the training with a registered training organisation (RTO), pass the assessment, then apply to your state regulator with your assessment paperwork and photo ID. The card you get is recognised in every state and territory — you don’t re-sit it when you cross a border. High risk work licences run for five years and then need renewing.
Worth knowing: the WP licence covers the boom, and it stacks with other licences rather than replacing them. Operate a telehandler with a telescopic boom of 11 metres or more and you need the WP in addition to the licence that matches the machine’s rated capacity.
The Yellow Card: real, useful, and not a licence
The Yellow Card is run by the Elevating Work Platform Association of Australia (EWPA). It covers safe operation of EWPs under 11 metres — boom lifts below the threshold, scissor lifts, vertical lifts — the machines that fall outside the licensing net.
It is industry accreditation, not a government licence. No law says you must hold one. What actually happens is that principal contractors write it into their site rules, so on a lot of commercial sites a Yellow Card is the practical difference between starting work and being sent home. Plenty of operators end up holding both: a Yellow Card for the scissor lift, a WP licence for the 15-metre boom.
The “EWP blue card” doesn’t exist
This one comes up constantly in searches, and it’s a mix-up of two different cards.
The blue card people are thinking of was the old general construction induction card. It stopped being issued in 2009, when induction cards were harmonised nationally and the colour changed from blue to white. It has nothing to do with elevating work platforms — it was the site entry card, now called the White Card. Old blue cards are still recognised, but they cannot be replaced: lose one and you have to sit the current induction unit again.
In Queensland there’s a second source of confusion — “Blue Card” there also means the Working with Children Check, which is a completely different scheme and nothing to do with construction plant.
So if a site asks for your “blue card”, they almost certainly mean your White Card. If they’re asking about the lift, they mean your Yellow Card or your WP licence.
Three cards, three jobs
- White Card (once blue) — gets you onto the site at all. Everyone needs it.
- Yellow Card (EWPA) — industry training for EWPs under 11 metres. Not law, but commonly required by contract.
- WP licence — the legal high risk work licence, for booms of 11 metres or more.
What builders should check
If you’re hiring, the boom length on the machine on your site decides what you need to sight. Under 11 metres, you’re checking induction, Yellow Card if your site rules require it, and evidence of familiarisation on that specific model. At 11 metres and over, you’re checking a current WP licence — and it needs to be the actual card, in date, not a “it’s in the ute” assurance.
The trap is assuming that a worker who is ticketed for one EWP is ticketed for all of them. An operator with a Yellow Card and no WP licence is entirely legal on a scissor lift and entirely illegal on a 15-metre boom.
Thinking about getting ticketed?
If you’re already on the tools and want more work, EWP is one of the better tickets to add. It’s short to train, it’s in demand on commercial sites, and it stacks well with the tickets you probably already hold. Start with a Yellow Card if you’re working with scissor lifts and small booms, and add the WP licence when you want the bigger machines.
Need ticketed EWP operators on site?
DL Aus Group supplies EWP operators across QLD, NSW, VIC & WA, and we check the ticket against the machine before anyone turns up — not after. Licensed labour hire in Queensland (LHL-04372-G3F0N) and Victoria (VICLHL03363).
See our EWP operators or tell us what you need.
