Fumigation licences in NSW

What counts as fumigation work

The Pesticides Regulation 2017 defines it as an individual using fumigants to prevent, control or get rid of pests, either for a fee or reward or for a public authority, paid or not. One thing is left out of the definition: sterilising fumigants applied from single-use canisters.

That makes fumigation a licence category of its own, separate from pest management technician work, which the same clause defines as using pesticides other than fumigants.

The EPA’s list of fumigants

The EPA lists the products that need a fumigator licence: anything containing one of these, listed here in our own order.

• methyl bromide
• sulfuryl fluoride
• phosphine gas, from any product that gives it off
• hydrogen cyanide
• chloropicrin
• ethyl formate
• ethanedinitrile
• ethylene oxide, other than in single-dose canisters
• 1,3-dichloropropene
• dazomet
• metham sodium
• potassium-monomethyl dithiocarbamate

Who may hold a fumigator licence

• Someone 18 or older.
• Someone trained in the core unit “CPPUPM3011 Manage organisms by applying fumigants to commodities and environments”, or its superseded twin, CPPPMT3011. Earlier training is accepted only if it includes both an older pesticide unit and CPPPMT3011A Conduct fumigation.
• Not someone with only the base chemical training required of unlicensed pesticide users: the EPA says that does not meet the requirement.
• An individual: licences cannot be issued to a business or a business name.

The two official pages word its length differently. Service NSW says a fumigator licence is valid for 5 years; the EPA says pesticide licences are valid for 1 or 5 years, chosen when you apply.

Trainees and the exemptions

A trainee without the licence may do fumigation work only with an EPA training permit while doing an approved course, supervised by someone who holds a fumigator licence. The EPA’s 84-day exemption from enrolling in a course names trainee pest management and timber pest technicians; it does not mention fumigators.

The Regulation lets a few people do fumigation work without the licence:

• someone newly qualified, for 60 days after qualifying, or longer while an application lodged in those 60 days is decided;
• someone working only to sell, test, maintain or dispose of equipment;
• a farm’s owner or occupier, or their employee, fumigating stored products against insects, or rabbits, mice or rats, as part of the farming and following the label.

The EPA has also exempted trained Local Land Services and National Parks and Wildlife Service staff who use phosphine and chloropicrin against mice, rats or rabbits. None of these covers fumigating someone else’s home.

Where fumigation meets a home

Drywood termites

The CSIRO says an extensive drywood termite infestation that local foam or dust treatments cannot clear may need the building tented and fumigated. Queensland’s government, on its page about controlling West Indian drywood termite, describes the work this way: “Structural fumigation (commonly known as ‘tenting’ or ‘tent fumigation’) of buildings is a specialist service and not all pest management technicians are authorised to conduct this activity.”

Bed bugs

The national code of practice for bed bugs says fumigation is rarely used where the infestation is. In extreme, heavily cluttered infestations, belongings may instead be bagged and taken to a facility for fumigation or heat treatment, a decision the code says is made case by case.

Imported goods

The federal environment department says methyl bromide can be used as a fumigant in Australia only for quarantine and pre-shipment purposes, treating goods being imported or exported. Fumigating for any other purpose needs special approval, which the department says is granted only in limited circumstances. For treatments done overseas, the federal agriculture department runs the Australian Fumigation Accreditation Scheme, which “manages the high biosecurity risk posed by ineffective methyl bromide (MB) treatments performed offshore”.

The risk area around a fumigation

Victoria’s health department, describing the national standards for methyl bromide, says a risk area must surround a fumigation to keep out anyone not wearing the required protective equipment. The Australian Fumigation Accreditation Scheme standard and the Australian Standard set it at a minimum of three metres from the boundary of an outdoor enclosure, with warning signs and a physical barrier.

The same fact sheet says both standards require a fumigation plan or risk assessment for every application, and that workers releasing the fumigant, or working in the risk area afterwards, use a full-face respirator or self-contained breathing apparatus.

Notice to the neighbours that matter

NSW’s Pesticides Regulation gives fumigators the same notice duties as other pest management technicians, including notice to a nearby school, childcare centre or other sensitive place, with exceptions for emergencies. For the details, check the NSW EPA’s page listed at the foot of this page.

Checking a fumigator

Every pesticide licence the EPA issues goes on its public register, and the EPA suggests asking to see a licence before agreeing to any pest control work. Someone licensed in another state or territory, other than Queensland, may be able to work in NSW under automatic mutual recognition, but must notify the regulator first.

Under the NSW Pesticides Act 1999, using a pesticide in a way that injures or is likely to injure another person, or damages or is likely to damage another person’s property, can bring a fine of up to $60,000 for an individual or $120,000 for a corporation, rising to $500,000 and $2,000,000 when the misuse is wilful or negligent. If someone may have breathed in a fumigant or another pesticide, the NSW Poisons Information Centre’s pesticides page lists the symptoms and the number to call.

Treating termites and other timber pests with ordinary pesticides needs a different licence, the timber pest management technician licence. Sheet 05 covers what those pests do to timber, and sheet 02 the cockroaches.