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FAQs

Red Cards

The 'Red Card' is the basic OHS induction training for the construction industry - now a prerequisite for all workers, including apprentices, going on to Victorian construction sites.  It is endorsed by Foundations for Safety, Victoria's primary OHS forum for the construction industry. All stakeholders in the industry developed and agreed to this induction training program.  The WorkSafe Victoria has a Construction webpage, with lots of industry information, with a specific page on Construction Induction Training. A Foundations for Safety pamphlet on the training lists the participating organisations, all of which provide the training, either themselves or through RTOs.  A separate list of Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) currently providing construction induction training  [pdf] has been placed on the VWA website.
 
There was an agreed  3 year phase in period for the Construction Industry Agreement which ended on February 1, 2004, and so any worker going onto a construction site is now required to hold the 'Red Card' or have proof of having been booked for the training.

The VTHC strongly recommends that workers enrol in union supported training. For more information, and to enrol, contact:

  • (construction workers) the CFMEU on 03 9341 3419,
  • (electricians) the EEIT on 03 8341 5555,
  • (metals members; maintenance workers) the AMWU on 03 9230 5700, and
  • (plumbers) the CEPU on 03 9662 3388
If you are not a member of a union, then a number of other organisations are also registered to provide 'Red Card' training. 
 
Mutual recognition of interstate training
 
As a result of the August 2006 OHS & Workers Compensation Harmonisation Agreement between Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland mutual recognition of the three states' construction induction cards commenced on 1 January 2007. This important reform will make life easier for contractors operating in the border areas and for construction workers moving between the three states which, between them, account for around 80% of the population, the workforce and the construction activity of Australia.
WorkSafe Victoria announcement [pdf] WorkCover NSW announcement Queensland Government announcement
 
Notes:
  1. The proof-of-training card, ie the Red Card, is issued by the training provider - not by the VWA. 

  2. The Victorian WorkCover Authority recognises the equivalence of proof-of-training under similar interstate construction induction schemes that are endorsed by that State's workplace safety Authority. There are such schemes in New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland.

February 2007