Education and care first aid renewal under the National Regulations

ACECQA explains the mandatory requirements in regulation 136 of the Education and Care Services National Regulations. These rules are for approved education and care services, including long day care, outside school hours care, and family day care. They are separate from the general workplace first aid recommendations described in Datesly’s guide to HLTAID011 and annual CPR.

Who must hold the qualifications

For a centre-based service, the approved provider must ensure that the following people are in attendance at all times at any place children are being educated and cared for, and immediately available in an emergency: at least one staff member or nominated supervisor who holds a current approved first aid qualification; at least one who has undertaken current approved anaphylaxis management training; and at least one who has undertaken current approved emergency asthma management training. One person may hold one or more of those qualifications. The same attendance rule applies to a service on a school site.

For family day care, each family day care educator and each educator assistant engaged by or registered with the service must hold all three: a current approved first aid qualification, current approved anaphylaxis management training, and current approved emergency asthma management training.

Use the official approved list

The National Regulations require ACECQA to publish a list of approved first aid qualifications, anaphylaxis management training and emergency asthma management training. The items on the list are national or state accredited units of competency, or short courses. ACECQA tells people to search that approved qualifications list using the course name and the code or other unique identifier that appears on the certificate or transcript.

Some courses cover all three required elements; others cover only one, such as anaphylaxis management. Before you book training, confirm the exact code on the official list. ACECQA’s list currently includes HLTAID012 Provide First Aid in an education and care setting at the first aid, asthma and anaphylaxis level. That unit superseded HLTAID004 on 15 October 2020. Always check the live list, because approved courses and date ranges can change.

ACECQA also notes that the Australian Skills Quality Authority has cancelled some training-provider registrations and, in some cases, qualifications. Confirm the RTO is currently registered on training.gov.au, and check ASQA’s published information on cancelled qualifications if you are unsure about a certificate.

When a qualification is taken to be current

From 1 October 2023, the National Regulations prescribe currency periods. ACECQA says the following are taken to be current if the qualification was attained, or the training was undertaken, within the previous three years: approved first aid qualifications (except emergency life support training and cardiopulmonary resuscitation training, which must be completed within the previous year); approved anaphylaxis management training; and approved emergency asthma management training.

ACECQA also restates the industry standard: first aid, anaphylaxis and emergency asthma training should be renewed every three years, and CPR should be refreshed annually. The prescribed currency periods now give that cycle legal effect for education and care services. Approved providers had until 1 April 2024 to complete any training needed to meet those timeframes (check the legislation for commencement dates in Western Australia).

A certificate may include several units of competency, and it should state the date the person completed the course. Currency periods apply to each individual unit, not only to the certificate as a whole. If CPR was completed as part of a combined first aid course, that CPR unit remains current for 12 months from that date, even if the wider first aid unit remains current for three years.

What to record

Childcare and education teams, and schools, tutoring and sports clubs that run an education and care service, should record the unit codes, the date each unit was completed, the RTO, and the next due dates for first aid, anaphylaxis, emergency asthma and CPR. Datesly can remind you before those dates arrive so you can roster people who are still current. That helps your own register; it does not replace checking the official ACECQA list or deciding who must be on the floor. See pricing or try the live demo.