Forklift Licence (LF) Study Guide 2026

The forklift licence

Operating a forklift is high risk work. Anyone who does it must hold a high risk work licence (HRWL). Your state or territory WHS regulator issues the licence, for example SafeWork NSW, WorkSafe Victoria or WorkSafe Queensland.

• The LF class does not cover order-picking forklifts. You need LO for those.
• SafeWork NSW says telehandlers with forks or a bucket do not need an HRWL, but the employer must still train workers to use them.
• You must be at least 18 years of age.
• While you train, you may operate a forklift without a licence only under the supervision of a licence holder.
• Employers must not let a worker do high risk work unless the worker holds a licence or gives written evidence of one.

How to get your licence

1. Train with a registered training organisation (RTO) that offers the LF class.
2. Get assessed. An accredited assessor assesses you using the national assessment instrument for the LF class. Assessment happens under realistic workplace conditions.
3. Receive your assessment result. In NSW this is a Notice of Satisfactory Assessment. In Victoria you get an Assessment Number or Notice of Assessment.
4. Apply to your regulator within 60 days. In NSW you apply through Service NSW. In Victoria you apply through myWorkSafe, or in person at Australia Post.
5. Prove your identity and, for a new licence, have your photo taken.

In NSW you can show your Notice of Satisfactory Assessment for 60 days while you wait for your card. In Victoria, if you miss the 60-day window, you must repeat the assessment at your own cost.

Keeping your licence

• The licence is valid for five years. Then you must renew it.
• In NSW and Victoria you can renew up to 12 months after expiry. In NSW, after that you must retrain, be reassessed and reapply.
• You cannot work with an expired licence.
• Your licence must come from the state or territory where you usually live. If you move permanently, you can transfer it.
• In NSW, tell SafeWork NSW about changes to your name, address or contact details within 14 days.

The TLILIC0003 unit and the assessment

TLILIC0003 Licence to operate a forklift truck is the national unit of competency for the LF class. It is based on Part 4.5 of the model WHS Regulations, and the national assessment instrument is the mandated assessment for the licence. The unit has four parts:

What the practical assessment includes

• Lifting dynamic and non-dynamic loads of at least 250 kg, including a trial lift.
• A lift to 75 percent of the maximum lift height.
• Driving an obstacle course with an S-bend of at least 90 degrees.
• Placing loads in racking and on elevated surfaces.
• Parking, isolating and shutting down correctly, and setting up an exclusion zone.

Assessment takes place in a real workplace, or a simulated workplace that reflects real conditions. Simulators must not be used. The assessor uses a forklift that complies with AS 2359, suitable loads and racking.

Planning the task and managing hazards

Good planning prevents most problems. Before you start, confirm the task from work orders and with the people involved, and inspect the site.

• Check the work area surface is suitable for a forklift.
• Make sure the forklift and any attachment suit the load and have a high enough working load limit.
• Plan your operating path and where loads will go.
• Look for hazards: lighting, overhead hazards, restricted areas, surfaces, collision risks and weather.
• Confirm the site traffic management plan is in place.
• Agree on how you will communicate with others.

The hierarchy of controls

Control risks starting with the most effective option. Elimination is the most effective control. Personal protective equipment (PPE) is the least effective and is used last, when other controls cannot remove the risk.

Pre-start and operational checks

Check the forklift daily before use. Check the logbook first, then do your visual pre-start checks with the engine off.

• Use three points of contact to get on and off. Many forklift injuries are slips, trips and falls while mounting or dismounting.
• Report, record and act on every defect you find.
• If the forklift is damaged, isolate it so it cannot be used until it is made safe.
• Check the hazard controls are in place and tell people in the area about them.

Loads, capacity and stability

Comcare says tipping over is the biggest danger for a forklift operator. A forklift can roll sideways or pitch forward when it is overloaded, the load is too high, or the driver turns or brakes badly.

• Know your forklift's capacity from its data plate and never exceed it.
• Do not pick up a load if you do not know its mass.
• Assess the load's weight and position against the data plate before you lift.
• Fitting an attachment usually reduces capacity. If the manufacturer agrees to the attachment, the capacity plate should be amended to show the attachment.
• Do not add extra counterweight.
• Do not sling loads from the fork arms. The load may slide off.
• Monitor the load the whole time you lift, move, lower and place it.
• Driving with a raised load is dangerous. Driving with the fork arms raised too high, loaded or unloaded, can cause a tip-over.

Common causes of tip-overs

• Overloading.
• Braking or accelerating while cornering.
• Carrying a load down a slope.
• Poor ground: kerbs, gutters, rough ground, slopes, docks and speed bumps.

Pedestrians and traffic management

Fully loaded, a standard 2-tonne forklift can weigh about five tonnes. The best way to protect people is to separate pedestrians and forklifts.

• Use physical barriers such as guardrails or overhead walkways.
• Where barriers are not possible, schedule tasks so forklifts and people are not in the same area at the same time.
• Mark walkways and use crossings with boom gates or traffic lights.
• Install convex mirrors at intersections and blind corners.
• Use exclusion zones. No one may stand, work or walk under raised fork arms, and no one should walk beside a travelling forklift.
• Slow down and sound your horn at doorways, intersections and blind corners.
• Keep a safe distance behind other forklifts and vehicles.
• Remember: even at walking pace (about 6 km/h) a forklift needs at least 3 metres to stop.

WorkSafe Victoria suggests low-cost technology: proximity devices that detect pedestrians and slow the forklift, and sequential seatbelt interlocks that stop the forklift starting until the seatbelt is fastened.

Passengers and lifting people

• Do not carry passengers unless the forklift is designed for more than one person, with an extra seat and seatbelt.
• Never raise people on fork arms or pallets.
• Do not use work platforms to transport people.

Seatbelts and tip-overs

Seatbelts save lives and must be worn. In a tip-over, operators who are not belted in are more likely to be killed or seriously injured. Operators who jumped have been crushed and killed by the overhead guard.

1. Stay seated.
2. Hold tight.
3. Brace your feet.
4. Lean away from the direction of the tip.

Fuel, charging and shutdown

• Know how to refuel or recharge your forklift safely. This is part of the unit's required knowledge.
• On LPG forklifts, turn off the LPG at the cylinder when you finish work.
• Only licensed gas fitters may repair or replace parts on LPG forklifts.
• In poorly ventilated areas, electric forklifts are preferred, because fuel-powered forklifts can cause poisoning or asphyxiation.
• Do not park near a source of ignition.

Shutting down

1. Park the forklift in a safe place.
2. Switch off and isolate it.
3. Carry out the shutdown procedure.
4. Secure it against unauthorised access or use, for example by securing the key.

If you drive onto a truck tray, make sure the truck's wheels are chocked, the park brake is on, the key is secured and the tray is sound.

Study tips

• Learn the licence facts: LF for forklift trucks, LO for order pickers, minimum age 18, apply within 60 days, valid five years.
• Learn the four elements of TLILIC0003 in order: plan, prepare, perform, pack up.
• Practise saying your pre-start and operational checks out loud.
• Ask your RTO what the practical assessment will include on the day.
• Keep your training logbook up to date.