Subcontractor compliance checklist for Australia
Compliance for a subcontractor is mostly a records problem: the right document, current, attached to the right person, available before someone asks for it at the gate.
Business and insurance
Current public liability and, where required, professional indemnity and workers compensation cover; ABN and business registration details; trade licences for the work you carry out; and a current safety management approach your clients accept. Keep certificates with expiry dates visible, not buried in a folder.
Worker records
For each worker: identity and right to work, tax and super arrangements, emergency contact, inductions completed, licences and tickets with expiry dates, and medical or fitness requirements where the work demands them. Records should be current for the people on site today, not the roster as it was at onboarding.
Tickets and competencies
High-risk work licences, working at heights, confined space, EWP, dogging and rigging, traffic control, first aid: whatever the work requires. Track issue and expiry dates and check them before a worker is scheduled, because a lapsed ticket stops a shift. A skills matrix built from the personnel record is the cheapest way to see gaps.
Site safety documents
SWMS for high-risk construction work, prestarts completed each shift, toolbox talks with attendance, hazard and incident reporting, and investigations with actions closed out. These are the records a client's safety team asks for after an incident or at audit, and the ones that are hardest to reconstruct later.
Quality and project records
ITPs and inspection sign-offs, drawing revisions and markup, variation records, delivery dockets and the project diary. Quality records and commercial records overlap more than most subcontractors expect: the inspection that was never signed is the variation that is never paid.
What head contractors ask for
Typically: insurance certificates, licences, worker inductions, SWMS for the scope, plant and operator tickets, and evidence of consultation. Requirements vary by head contractor and by project, and they change. Confirm the current list with each client rather than assuming last year's pack is still accepted.
Keeping it current
Assign an owner for each record type, set review dates against expiries rather than a calendar reminder in someone's head, and check the register before scheduling rather than after a worker is turned away. SubbieSure holds personnel records, licences, inductions, safety documents and project records in one place; see the platform overview.
Check the product details
Related reading: subcontractor management software, skills matrix for construction, site induction process, SWMS app, ITP software.
This page is published by SubbieSure and describes our own product, not an independent review or a ranking of vendors. It is general information, not legal or WHS advice. Check requirements for your work, contract and jurisdiction.
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