Every regas, install and decommission in Australia sits under a national licensing scheme most customers have never heard of. This guide explains the ARCtick framework: refrigerant handling licences and trading authorisations, the licence classes, the legislation and HFC phase-down behind them, what changes with A2L refrigerants like R32, and what businesses must do to stay compliant.
Under the Commonwealth ozone protection and synthetic greenhouse gas legislation, fluorocarbon refrigerants are controlled substances: individuals need a refrigerant handling licence (RHL) to do any work on equipment containing them, and businesses need a refrigerant trading authorisation (RTA) to acquire, store or dispose of them. The scheme is administered by the Australian Refrigeration Council (ARC) — hence the “ARCtick” mark — and it applies to air conditioning and refrigeration work nationwide, from a split-system install to a supermarket rack decommission.
The policy engine underneath is emissions: refrigerants are potent greenhouse gases (and their predecessors depleted the ozone layer), so the law licenses the people, authorises the businesses, mandates recovery instead of venting, and phases down HFC imports on a legislated schedule aligned with the global Kigali Amendment.
| Instrument | Who needs it | Covers |
|---|---|---|
| Refrigerant Handling Licence (RHL) | Every individual working on refrigerant circuits | Full licence (all stationary work); restricted classes incl. split-system installation (non-trade), automotive, transport, domestic appliances; trainee licences |
| Refrigerant Trading Authorisation (RTA) | Every business acquiring, storing or disposing of refrigerant | Purchase of refrigerant, stock storage rules, recovery obligations, record-keeping |
The two travel together: an unlicensed technician can’t legally work on the circuit, and a licensed technician can’t legally buy gas except through an authorised business. Wholesalers check RTAs at the counter; the ARC runs public lookup registers for both — verify any subcontractor before they touch a circuit under your name.
What doesn’t: work that never touches the sealed circuit — filters, coil cleaning (external), electrical, controls, condensate — which is why maintenance teams can include non-RHL staff, provided the boundary is respected and documented. Note also that natural refrigerants (ammonia, CO₂, hydrocarbons) sit outside the fluorocarbon scheme but carry their own competency and safety expectations.
Australia’s HFC import phase-down — a legislated, stepwise reduction in the CO₂-equivalent tonnage of HFCs entering the country — is steadily re-pricing high-GWP gases and pulling equipment toward lower-GWP refrigerants. The visible consequence is R32 (GWP ~675) replacing R410A (~2,088) across splits and increasingly VRF, with lower-GWP blends behind it.
R32 and its successors are A2L — “mildly flammable” — which changes the work: charge limits and room-size rules under AS/NZS 60335.2.40 and the AS/NZS 5149 series, handling and equipment practices for flammable refrigerants, and training expectations that regulators and manufacturers now assume. For business owners the takeaway is competency currency: a licence issued in the R410A era doesn’t automatically mean A2L-ready practice.
The scheme carries real teeth: civil and criminal penalties for unlicensed handling, unauthorised trading, and emissions offences like venting — enforced against individuals and businesses, with the ARC and the department running compliance programs and acting on reports. Beyond fines, the practical exposures bite harder: warranty claims rejected on unlicensed installs, insurance positions compromised, and principal contractors increasingly auditing licence evidence before granting site access.
The clean compliance posture for a contracting business is boringly simple: every tech’s RHL current and matched to the work they do, the RTA current, refrigerant purchase/recovery records kept, and licence numbers recorded on the job documentation where the client can see them.
traqR keeps the licensing layer attached to the work: technician profiles carry RHL classes, numbers and expiry dates with renewal alerts; jobs record which licensed tech performed refrigerant work; refrigerant-relevant assets carry their gas type and charge in the register; and service reports go out with the licence evidence clients and principals ask for. When a builder’s compliance team emails asking who was licensed on last month’s install, the answer is a filter, not a file hunt.
The public mark of Australia’s refrigerant licensing scheme, administered by the Australian Refrigeration Council under Commonwealth ozone and synthetic greenhouse gas law. Individuals need a refrigerant handling licence to work on refrigerant circuits; businesses need a refrigerant trading authorisation to acquire, store or dispose of refrigerant.
Yes — installation involves connecting and commissioning the refrigerant circuit, which is licensed work. There is a restricted licence class specifically covering split-system installation, alongside the full licence that covers all stationary refrigerant work.
Yes — deliberately emitting fluorocarbon refrigerant is an offence. Refrigerant must be recovered into approved cylinders during service and decommissioning and returned through the authorised supply chain for reclamation or destruction.
R32 is mildly flammable (class A2L), which brings charge-limit and room-size rules (AS/NZS 60335.2.40, AS/NZS 5149 series), flammable-refrigerant handling practices and updated training expectations. The licence obligation is unchanged — the competency expectations around it have grown.
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