Six questions · Question 04
Two licences, two regulatorsLicensed pest technicians in Queensland
In Queensland, a pest management licence under the Medicines and Poisons Act 2019 authorises a person to carry out the pest management activities stated in it, with the fumigants or pesticides stated in it, and the Act makes it an offence to offer pest management for a business without holding one or employing someone who does. Termite work on a building adds a second layer: QBCC’s termite management licences, and anyone doing chemical termite work needs both.
General information, not legal advice. The official places to check are the Department of Health, which issues pest management licences, and QBCC, listed at the foot of this page.
The two licences side by side
| Licence | Issued by | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Pest management licence | The Department of Health, under the Medicines and Poisons Act 2019. | The pest management activities stated in the licence, using the fumigants or pesticides stated in it. |
| QBCC termite management, chemical | QBCC. | Pre-slab and perimeter chemical treatment of new building work, and inspecting a completed building to give advice or a report on its termite systems or an infestation. |
| QBCC termite management, physical | QBCC. | Installing the particular material or system named in a condition on the licence, and advice or reports about its use in a completed building. |
QBCC’s booklet says the physical class is restricted to particular systems, such as graded stone or stainless steel mesh, and that a QBCC licence is required to install termite management systems in new building work. QBCC also lists chemical termite management among the kinds of building work that need a QBCC licence whatever their value.
What the Act says
The Medicines and Poisons Act 2019 splits pest management into two kinds of activity. A fumigation activity uses a substance that becomes a gas, for example to kill a pest; a pest control activity uses a substance, other than as a fumigation, to kill, repel or stupefy a pest, among other things.
“A person must not offer to carry out a pest management activity for a pest management business unless: (a) the person has a pest management licence; or (b) the person employs someone else with a pest management licence to carry out the pest management activity.”
Medicines and Poisons Act 2019 (Qld), section 45, quoted in full with its dash shown as a colon
Section 44 makes it an offence to carry out a pest management activity other than in the authorised way, with a maximum penalty of 200 penalty units, and section 45 above carries the same maximum.
The Act also sets out who does not need a licence. One exemption covers a householder: using a household pesticide, the kind ordinarily used in homes and sold in retail stores, at residential premises and not for a pest management business, provided it is used in line with its approved label. The Act’s own examples are cockroach bait from a supermarket and flea and tick treatment for a dog.
Who can hold one
- An application for a pest management licence must be made by an individual of at least 17 years, and the chief executive may ask the applicant for a health assessment by a medical practitioner, for example before licensing work with fumigants in enclosed spaces.
- A licensed technician must meet, and keep meeting, the competency requirements in the departmental standard for the activities on their licence, “Competency requirements for licensed technicians undertaking pest management activities with pesticides and fumigants”.
- A QBCC termite licence also has its own eligibility requirements, including being fit and proper, technical and managerial qualifications, and, for a contractor licence in the chemical class, professional indemnity insurance.
The regulation that sets the standard conditions for these licences, the Medicines and Poisons (Pest Management Activities) Regulation 2021, commenced on 27 September 2021. The Act refers to the law before it as the repealed Pest Management Act 2001, and its transitional provisions deal with licences issued under that Act.
How to check
- Ask to see it
Business Queensland’s advice, in its page on the West Indian drywood termite, is: “Ask your pest technician to provide evidence of their pest control licence, as required under the Medicines and Poisons Act 2019.”
- Check what it covers
A licence covers only the activities and chemicals stated in it. For structural fumigation against drywood termite, Business Queensland says not all technicians are authorised, and that “This licence must have endorsements for timber pests and fumigation with site environment specified.”
- Look up the QBCC side
For termite barrier work or a termite report on a building, search the QBCC licensee register. QBCC’s booklet says a licence history check is free. The same page lists QBCC’s registers of suspended and cancelled licences.
- For the health licence
QBCC’s chemical licence page links to Queensland Health’s page for pest management technicians for the health licence.
Licences are one part of a treatment. Question 03 covers what a yearly inspection looks at.