Pinnacle Safety and Training Blog

Community service announcement – Beware of dodgy White Card training

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, several state regulators, including SafeWork NSW have made allowances to temporarily permit Registered Training Organisations to deliver White Card training via “connected real-time delivery”.

This announcement has led to a number of scammers advertising online White Card training which does not comply with the Regulator’s stipulations.

Beware – if you train with one of these suppliers, you will not obtain a valid qualification or legitimate White Card.

How to spot these scammers…

Thankfully, it’s pretty easy to know if a White Card training provider is offering a real qualification.

1. For starters, you should check the supplier is a Registered Training Organisation (RTO). If you’re unsure, look up them up on training.gov.au
2. In addition, upon completion of the training, make sure you will be issued with a Statement of Attainment for the National Unit of Competency, CPCCWHS1001 - Prepare to work safely in the construction industry. This is in addition to the actual White Card.
3. Last, but not least, you should check the training being offered is either face-to-face or online in real-time, via a live streaming/conferencing platform (such as Zoom or similar). i.e. you should be able to interact directly with your trainer during your course. It should NOT be a pre-recorded video or online presentation you work through at your own pace. The only exceptions to this are for people residing in Western Australia or Tasmania. Likewise, if you reside in Queensland and are at least 100km from any RTO offering face-to-face delivery then you may complete an online course.

Still unsure? Here are some terms that are red flags the training provider may not be offering an approved White Card course:

• “Self-paced learning”
• “Complete the course in your own time”
• “100% online multiple choice Q&A assessment”
• “Course access 24/7”
• “No time limit”
• “No verbal/audio assessment required”
• “No PPE required”
• “Start your course as soon as you sign up”
• “100% success rate”