Does a Working at Heights Ticket Expire in Australia?

If you’ve done Working at Heights training before, you might assume it works like a forklift licence or an EWP ticket, something with a stamped expiry date that WorkSafe tracks for you. It doesn’t. The rules around RIIWHS204E are different, and knowing why matters if a site ever asks you to prove your training is still current.

Does a Working at Heights ticket expire?

No. A Statement of Attainment for RIIWHS204E (Work Safely at Heights) doesn’t carry a legislated expiry date anywhere in Australia. Once you’ve completed the course and been assessed as competent, that record stands. Nothing in the WHS framework requires you to sit it again after a set number of years.

Why is it different from a forklift or EWP ticket?

It comes down to what kind of credential it is. A forklift licence and an EWP ticket over 11 metres are High Risk Work Licences issued by WorkSafe Queensland, and those genuinely do expire every five years and need formal renewal (see our guide to who needs an EWP ticket in Queensland). Working at Heights isn’t a licence at all. It’s a unit of competency, the same category as a White Card, and units of competency don’t carry a WorkSafe renewal cycle.

So why do some sites still ask for a refresher?

An employer’s WHS duty doesn’t stop at the paperwork. Under the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld), a business must keep making sure workers are actually competent for the task in front of them, not just that they hold a certificate from several years ago. WorkSafe Queensland’s own guidance on work at heights is built around that ongoing risk management, not a one-off check. In practice, industry guidance commonly recommends an annual refresher, and some sites build that into their own induction policy. It’s a recommendation, not a legal minimum. If a head contractor or site induction asks for a recent refresher, that’s a site rule, not a national one, but it’s worth meeting if you want to keep working there.

Is that the same as a White Card?

Close to it. A White Card (unit CPCWHS1001) is a Statement of Attainment too, not a WorkSafe licence, so it doesn’t come with a stamped renewal date either (see our explainer on why you need a White Card in Queensland). Both sit in the same category: proof you were trained and assessed, not a licence WorkSafe tracks and revokes on a schedule.

What if you haven’t worked at height in years?

There’s no formal process to reactivate a Working at Heights Statement of Attainment, because it never became invalid. What changes is how much an employer can reasonably rely on it. If it’s been years since you last worked at height, a refresher is the practical answer, not a legal requirement. EDB runs the standard one-day course at our Capalaba training centre, and a combined course covering Working at Heights and EWP operation under 11 metres if you need both.

Not sure whether your current training is recent enough for a site you’re heading to? Our trainers can talk you through what a refresher actually covers.