Amendments have been made to Regulation 320 of the Work Health and Safety (National Uniform Legislation) Regulations 2011, which deals with the content of general construction induction training cards or ‘white cards’.

The amendments, which commenced on 25 May 2022, allow construction workers the option to request a digital white card when applying for a new or replacement physical card. Workers can access the digital white card from their smartphone wallets (Apple Wallet or Google Pay), and it can be presented to employers, union officials and various inspectors for online verification by QR-code scanning.

While the amendments allow workers to request a digital white card, they neither omit the availability and validity of physical cards, nor alter safety training requirements. The digital option is merely an additional option that is available subject to the worker’s completion of face-to-face general construction induction training delivered by an approved registered training organisation.

Workers are still encouraged to carry their physical white cards and to take it when working interstate while NT WorkSafe seeks mutual recognition of the NT digital white cards from other jurisdictions.

Digital white cards were made available in the NT from 1 June 2022.