Jimmi Nolan Dogging is where many lifting careers begin. If you want to become a dogman in Australia, you’ll need the right training, a DG High Risk Work Licence and a solid understanding of the job itself. And no, despite the name, it has nothing to do with training dogs.
From there, it can open the door to rigging, crane operation and other opportunities across construction and heavy industry.
A dogging ticket won’t automatically hand you a job or guarantee a pay rise. Still, it can help you move from general labouring into skilled lifting work used across construction, civil infrastructure, ports, manufacturing, mining and renewable energy.
In this guide, we’ll run through what a dogman does, how to get your DG licence, what the work can pay, where the jobs are and where the career can take you.
A Dogman (Dogger or Dogperson) selects and inspects lifting gear, secures the load, and directs the crane or plant operator when the load is out of the operator’s view. The operator controls the machine. The Dogman controls the load movement from the ground, while riggers take on broader or more complex rigging work.
On any given day, you will:
In Queensland, you need a DG licence whenever judgment is required about slinging technique or lifting gear, or when you’re directing an operator whose view of the load is blocked.
There is one limited exemption worth knowing about. Under WHSQ’s DG licence guidance, a person can sling a load without a DG licence if the load weight, sling selection, gear condition and lift points have all been predetermined by a licensed Dogman, rigger or appropriately qualified engineer – and the load stays in the operator’s view, the procedure is documented and signed off, and the person following it is trained and competent. If any of that can’t be predetermined, the lift needs a DG licence holder.
Put simply: if any decision is required about slinging or moving a load, a Dogman’s licence (DG) is required.
For labourers, trade assistants and civil workers, generally yes. Your DG licence puts you into skilled work, so it typically pays better than unskilled labouring, and it’s the foundation that the entire rigging and crane pathway is built on. Applied properly, good technique is also easier on your body than a day of general labour, which is why you’ll find Dogmen of every age on site.
Be a little careful with salary numbers online because they measure different things. SEEK’s salary data for Dogman roles (refreshed 1 August 2026) lists a national average of $100,000 to $110,000. The same page shows $77,302 across 86 Construction ads and $77,013 across 68 Trades & Services ads.
Those aren’t contradictory so much as not comparable – advertised roles bundle up different rosters, overtime, allowances and extra tickets. Queensland pay swings hard on project, location and roster. Mining, shutdown and FIFO work can pay considerably more, but it usually requires experience, travel, longer rosters or additional licences first. Read current ads properly and check what’s actually included in the number.
Doggers work across construction, civil infrastructure, mining, renewable energy, manufacturing, ports, shutdowns and major projects. South east Queensland has had a steady run of big work – the Coomera Connector, the light rail extension running south to Burleigh, and the venue and transport program building toward Brisbane 2032. Add the renewable energy projects rolling out through regional Queensland, and demand for people who can move loads safely isn’t drying up any time soon.
Set up alerts on the main recruitment sites and register with labour hire companies – plenty of site crews get filled that way, on day or hourly rates. Approach labour hire and general crane hire companies directly, too; many of them advertise dogman roles themselves. Keep your resume accurate and current, and log your hours.
And talk to your trainers. Employers regularly ring RTOs asking who’s coming through and who’s worth a look. Your trainer, former supervisors and site contacts often know which crews are being built before the ad goes up.
OTJT founder Matt Nolan started his lifting career as a dogman with no prior experience working on a crane crew. He rang general-hire crane companies and offered to sweep floors and grease cranes for free just to get a foot in the door. Within a week, one company offered him paid work as a general labourer and shadowing a dogman.
Additional tickets can widen the tasks and roles you may be considered for. Common complementary training includes:
They’re short courses, often a single day, and employers frequently expect them. Basic rigging is the natural next step once you want broader lifting responsibility.
There are plenty of lifts you can’t do with a dogman licence only. That’s where rigging licences come in, and in reality, often what employers expect. More on that later.
One bit of advice from our training and admin team: don’t let the admin undo the hard work. Apply for your licence within the required 60 day timeframe, renew it every 5 years when it falls due, and keep your contact details up to date with WHSQ (or your relevant state or territory SafeWork authority) so renewal notices actually reach you.
If a high-risk work licence expires beyond the 5 year renewal period and outside the 12 month grace period allowed by the relevant state or territory regulator, you will need to complete the assessments again. That means extra time and cost, and it happens more often than you might think.
Training covers load calculations, lifting gear selection and inspection, communication signals, hazard ID and controls, lift planning and practical execution of 5 different lifts. CPCCLDG3001 must be assessed using full-scale, industry-standard equipment in realistic workplace conditions. The HRW licence assessment includes a closed-book knowledge component and practical tasks with an accredited assessor.
The learners who do best ask questions, practise the maths, take communication seriously and stay open to feedback. That same attitude is what earns you trust on site.
A good RTO should give you enough trainer support and hands-on practice to build competence before assessment, not just hand you the training materials and wish you good luck. When comparing providers, look at the learning environment as well as the price.
A quality training provider should offer:
It is also worth asking what happens if you need more practice before the assessment. A good provider should be upfront about learner support, additional training and the assessment process before you enrol.
Your DG licence is usually the first rung, not the destination. Two main directions open up, and each needs its own training, assessment and licence application.
Under WHSQ’s rigging licence hierarchy, a basic rigging licence takes in the dogging scope. Intermediate rigging requires DG and RB; advanced rigging requires DG, RB and RI. This is the road if you’re working around structural steel, precast, plant and hoists, and increasingly complex rigging tasks. It is often expected by employers that dogmen hold an RI licence, so that they can conduct dual crane lifts, build supporting site infrastructure such as hoists and perimeter screens, and move precast and tilt panels into position.
If you want a side-by-side comparison of which licence allows you to do what, have a read of our dogging and rigging beginner’s guide.
DG licence → non-slewing, vehicle loading, mobile or tower crane → further crane classes, including C0 for the largest slewing mobile cranes.
Which route suits you depends on the gear you work around, what your employer needs, prerequisites and experience. Plenty of good crane operators will tell you that learning how loads behave from the ground first made them better in the seat.
Some doggers stay on load control and become the person every crew wants on the hook. Others move into rigging cranes and other plant, or more complicated rigging disciplines related to rope access, swing stages, span lines, flying foxes and hung scaffolding. Or if you’ve always seen yourself in the seat, then operating mobile or tower cranes could be your next step.
A dogging ticket gets you on site. Your safe site practices are what keep you there. The doggers who get asked back are calm, clear and prepared. They plan before the crane moves, reassess when conditions change, and they’ll stop the job when something isn’t right.
These are not just ‘nice-to-haves’. On construction sites, lift plans, safe work method statements (SWMS), and site procedures can set out communication, exclusion zones, responsibilities and stop-work controls. For high-risk construction work, the work must be carried out in accordance with the SWMS. Many sites also require the relevant crew to acknowledge or sign onto the procedure before work starts.
Speed never replaces control. Nobody wants a lift turning into a guessing game with hand signals that look like someone ordering two meat pies from across the yard.
That being said, time is money on a construction site, and the site manager will expect crane crews to be organised, skilled and efficient while maintaining safety and following site procedures.
If your next step is training, we run our Dogman Ticket Course every week at our Stapylton training yard, conveniently located between Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
You’ll train in small classes with our award-winning training team, using real lifting gear and industry-standard equipment across a fleet of eight cranes, including two tower cranes. Our training is practical and site-focused, giving you plenty of opportunity to ask questions, build your skills and understand why each part of the lifting process matters.
We offer day and night course options, and CSQ funding may be available to eligible Queensland construction workers.
View more details about our Dogman Ticket Course here, or call our team on 07 3807 6061 to talk through enrolment, funding eligibility or group bookings.
So what are you waiting for? Enrol in a course today!
Yes. A DG dogging licence is the prerequisite for basic rigging (RB), and basic rigging is the prerequisite for intermediate rigging (RI), which in turn leads to advanced rigging (RA). Dogging is also the common entry point into crane operation licence classes. This is why almost every lifting career in Australia starts with a DG ticket.
Yes. The DG licence is a national high risk work licence based on the nationally recognised unit CPCCLDG3001, so it is recognised in every Australian state and territory. If you move interstate you apply to the WHS regulator in your new state to transfer the licence across. Licence holders from other states who train in Queensland apply to SafeWork Queensland and can then transfer the qualification onto their home state licence.
Based on SEEK data from November 2025, dogger and rigger roles average around $85,000 a year in Queensland and around $90,000 a year nationally, or roughly $45 an hour. Advertised rates for dogman work commonly sit in the $95,000 to $105,000 range, and experienced operators moving into rigging or crane work can reach $100,000 to $110,000. Mining, resources and energy pay the highest rates, while trade services and construction offer the most opportunities.
A dogging ticket will not hand you a job on its own, but it moves you out of general labouring and into skilled lifting work that is required on every crane site. It is the licence that opens the door to rigging and crane operation, and in South East Queensland the pipeline of infrastructure, renewable energy and Olympic build work means steady demand for licensed crews. For a five day course it is one of the cheapest and fastest tickets into a skilled construction career.
A DG licence qualifies you for dogger and dogman roles on construction sites, civil infrastructure projects, ports, manufacturing plants, mining and resources sites, renewable energy builds and event and stage rigging. Many crane hire companies and labour hire firms treat a DG ticket as the minimum entry requirement for lifting crews. It also makes you more useful on general labouring crews, since sites often need someone licensed to sling and direct loads.
The crane operator sits in the machine and controls it. The dogman works on the ground, selects and inspects the lifting gear, secures the load, works out the load weight and centre of gravity, and directs the operator by hand, whistle or radio when the load is out of the operator’s line of sight. They are separate high risk work licences and on most lifts you need both people working as a team.
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