Sorry Topcat but it will be for the new TLILIC108A Licence. We argued that point to the auditor but to no avail. He said the pre-use oil, water; hydraulic oil etc. check MUST be carried out on a counterbalance because there is no way to carry one out on a reach.
We argued that we don't have railway lines here either for that part of the assessment but he said we could simulate them in some way. As I said we have 99.9% reach here.
The last audit was funny because when I showed the auditor the reach trucks we use, he asked if we had any "ordinary" forklifts?

Paddy, you can undergo your forklift license test driving a reach truck or a counter-balance. When Joseph was talking about an Order Picking forklift he was talking about an entirely different machine to a reach truck.
Forklift Licenses are National Certifications and there is nothing in the National Forklift Assessment that says you must undergo the test on a reach truck or counter-balance.
Most Assessors prefer to train and asserss on counter-balances but it is not a legal requirement.

paddyB:

The Australian National Licensing Standard has two separate forklift licenses: Forklift Truck and Order Picking Forklift Truck.

Forklift Truck - covers the operation of a forklift that is equipped with a mast and an elevating load carriage equipped with a pair of forks or other attachment.

Order Picking Forklift Truck - covers the operation of a forklift where the operator's control arrangement is incorporated with the load carriage/lifting mechanism and the operator elevates with it.

Since the license is issued to the operator and is not site specific but is valid throughout Australia, the operator must be trained in all aspects of the licensing/assessment standard even if some areas are not encountered in the current workplace. Australia wants all operators to receive the same basic training.

Note the licensing/assessment training is basic training. The employer must still provide additional training to the operator in workplace hazards, safe operation and handling characteristics of the specific equipment to be operated, how to inspect the specific equipment for safe operation, company procedures, etc.

Paddy when you say reach truck I assume your are talking about a mast reach unit vs a panotgraph reach. If so the mast reach unit has a rated capacity when the mast is fully extended towards the front load wheels, there by making the unit a counterbalanced type machine.

I recall when I was in Japan at the NICHIYU (then called NYK) factory their operators used the units (mast reach type) with the mast fully extended the majority of the time (loaded or empty), very seldom did I observe the units operated with the mast retracted. When I inquired about this the main reason given for this was it takes too much time to retract the mast.
Maybe this is why the auditor says counterbalanced training is also required. No comments on the liquid handling issue.