Standards, tickets & careers
Do I need a licence to weld in Australia?
Quick answer
For your own projects, farm repairs and most hobby work: no licence exists — welding itself is unregulated. What's regulated is the work: structural, pressure and boiler welding generally requires certified welders (AS 1796 tickets) working under qualified procedures, and trade work on regulated sites requires the relevant trade qualifications.
When certification is legally required
- Pressure equipment and piping — AS 1796 pressure welding certificates
- Structural steel for buildings — welds to AS/NZS 1554 under weld supervision (AS 2214)
- Boiler and pressure-vessel repair — pressure ticket classes apply
- Work on regulated sites usually demands a trade certificate (e.g. engineering – fabrication) plus tickets
What 'getting your ticket' means
AS 1796 certifies welders in numbered certificate classes (1 to 9), each covering a process and product type — from MMA plate and pipe (classes 1–5) through TIG pipe (7) and MIG (8). Assessments are run through Weld Australia-authorised examiners, and certificates require periodic re-validation. Employers in pressure work ask for them explicitly. For hobby and non-structural work they're not required — but the skill standard they encode is exactly what separates a weld that holds from one that looks held.