RSA in Queensland: OLGR, the Statement of Attainment, and What the Penalties Actually Are

Our RSA Queensland course is listed as self-paced, with online written tasks and practical demonstrations. Check the official course page for current availability and enrolment details.

Queensland's Responsible Service of Alcohol rules are simpler than most states, but three details are widely misunderstood: what document you actually need, whether it expires, and whether any provider is "approved" by the regulator. We answer all three from the regulator's own position.

Next step: verify the credential

Check the official Queensland RSA certification requirements, then confirm the provider is a registered training organisation with SITHFAB021 on its scope. Do not rely on an “OLGR-approved” marketing claim because Queensland does not operate that provider-approval scheme for RSA.

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The short answers

Is any training provider "OLGR-approved" for RSA?	No. There is no OLGR approved-provider register for RSA. Any RTO with the unit on its scope may deliver it. OLGR directs candidates to training.gov.au.
What document do I need?	A Statement of Attainment for SITHFAB021. OLGR is explicit that a statement of attendance is not the same thing and does not satisfy the requirement.
Does it expire?	No. A valid Statement of Attainment does not expire. The only exception is training completed before 2002, which must be redone.
Do I get a card?	No. Queensland issues no RSA card. The Statement of Attainment is the only document.
How long do I have?	30 days from starting work at a licensed venue.
I am a licensee or approved manager with a current RMLV certificate. Do I need RSA too?	No. A current RMLV certificate removes the need for a separate RSA certificate — but RMLV itself expires after three years, while RSA does not.
Is there a minimum age to serve alcohol in Queensland?	No. OLGR states there are no minimum age restrictions under the Liquor Act 1992. Under-18s may serve in hotels, restaurants and cafes provided the venue holds no adult entertainment permit.
Is an interstate certificate accepted?	Yes, where it is a Statement of Attainment for the nationally accredited Provide Responsible Service of Alcohol course. Check the requirements below.
Does my Queensland certificate work in every other state?	No. Recognition depends on the destination, role and certificate. See the conditional pathways in the comparison table below.
Do I need a USI?	Generally yes, unless an applicable exemption applies. See the USI guidance below.

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The regulator

The Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation (OLGR) administers the Liquor Act 1992 (Qld) and the Liquor Regulation 2002 (Qld). OLGR compliance officers and Queensland Police inspect RSA evidence at licensed premises.

There is no provider approval scheme

This point is worth stating plainly because it is frequently misrepresented. OLGR does not approve, endorse or accredit RSA training providers. There is no approved-provider register for RSA in Queensland. OLGR directs candidates to the full list of RTOs with SITHFAB021 on scope at training.gov.au.

Any claim that a provider is "OLGR-approved", "OLGR-compliant" or "government approved" for Queensland RSA describes something that does not exist.

There is a rule behind that, not merely a convention. Where marketing refers to a training product, an RTO must include the code and title as published on the National Register, must accurately represent what is on its scope of registration, and may only represent that completion will lead to a licensed or regulated outcome where this has been confirmed by the relevant industry regulator. Where no approval scheme exists, no such confirmation can exist — so the claim is not just unverifiable, it is unmakeable.

An RSA Statement of Attainment is a national training record, but permission to serve alcohol depends on the destination’s rules. NSW permits eligible temporary interstate workers; permanent movers and security or RSA marshal roles must meet NSW training and competency-card requirements, using bridging where eligible. Victoria offers bridging to eligible interstate holders. SA applies approved-provider rules to training from 1 November 2020, with earlier training not required to be repeated solely for that change. QLD and WA require suitable national RSA evidence. Tasmania distinguishes staff from licence holders; the ACT and NT have local currency and refresher requirements. Check the regulator before your first shift. See RSA recognition by jurisdiction, NSW’s rules and SA’s rules. See Western Australia. See Victoria. See New South Wales.

Do not confuse this with RMLV (Responsible Management of Licensed Venues), which is an OLGR-developed course delivered only by OLGR-approved trainers, and whose certificates expire three years after issue. RSA and RMLV are different regimes. The RMLV approval requirement does not carry across to RSA.

RMLV and the exemption it carries

The part that matters to anyone in a management role: a licensee or approved manager holding a current RMLV certificate does not need a separate RSA certificate in Queensland. RMLV is developed and delivered by OLGR, through OLGR-approved trainers, and the certificate expires three years after issue.

That produces the counter-intuitive pairing this state is known for, and it is worth diarising. RSA in Queensland never expires. RMLV does. So a manager relying on RMLV in place of RSA can end up with no current credential at all simply by letting the RMLV lapse — whereas a bar attendant with a 2015 Statement of Attainment is still compliant. If you are moving from the floor into management, the credential you have to watch changes at the same time as the job.

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What OLGR actually requires

OLGR states the requirement directly: you must complete the nationally recognised course Provide Responsible Service of Alcohol through a registered training organisation. The current unit code is SITHFAB021.

The output must be a Statement of Attainment. OLGR is explicit that a statement of attendance is not the same document and does not satisfy the requirement. If a course produces a branded certificate of attendance, completion or achievement rather than a Statement of Attainment issued by an RTO, it does not meet the Queensland requirement.

No state-specific module, top-up, bridging course or state-issued document is required. That is a Queensland fact, not a general one — Victoria and New South Wales both add a layer, as the comparison table below sets out.

How to tell a Statement of Attainment from a certificate of attendance

Since the whole Queensland requirement turns on this distinction, it is worth knowing that the elements of a genuine VET statement of attainment are prescribed rather than a matter of the issuer's house style. It must carry:

• the issuing organisation's name, registration code and logo
• the full title and national code of each unit or module, as listed on the National Register
• the NRT logo — Nationally Recognised Training — used in accordance with its conditions of use
• the signature of an authorised individual
• the organisation's seal, corporate identifier or unique watermark
• a statement that a VET statement of attainment is issued by an NVR registered training organisation when an individual has completed one or more accredited units or modules
• where the units form part of a larger course or qualification, identification of that course

A qualification carries the parallel set, including the statement that the qualification is recognised within the Australian Qualifications Framework.

One absence is as diagnostic as the presences: your USI must not be printed on a qualification or statement of attainment. The RTO's obligation is to have the Registrar verify that the identifier belongs to you before using it for any purpose, not to display it on the document. A certificate showing your USI on its face is a defect, not a reassurance.

Superseded codes remain valid

SITHFAB021 is current, but older codes remain valid provided the unit title is Provide Responsible Service of Alcohol and a Statement of Attainment was issued. OLGR names:

• SITHFAB002
• SITHFAB009A — the active code between 2009 and 2013
• THHBFB09B

The unit embedded in a larger qualification also counts. A transcript-style Statement of Attainment showing the RSA unit within, for example, a Certificate II, III or IV in Hospitality is valid in Queensland. See SIT30722 Certificate III in Hospitality (Restaurant Front of House), which carries RSA as a core unit.

If a transcript shows a credit transfer for the unit, an employer, an OLGR officer or a police officer may require evidence of the recognised prior learning behind it.

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No card, and no expiry

OLGR puts it plainly: in Queensland you will not get a card with your Statement of Attainment as you might in other states. The RTO issues the Statement of Attainment and it is the only document.

An important practical consequence: OLGR does not hold RSA training records and cannot replace a lost certificate. The holder must contact the issuing RTO. If you cannot identify which RTO issued your certificate, you must redo the course. Keep a copy.

Two national rules soften that, and both are worth knowing before you assume a lost certificate means a re-sit. An RTO must retain records of the certification documentation it has issued for 30 years, and must maintain a register of what it is authorised to issue and what it has issued. So where you can identify the RTO, a re-issue is a records request rather than a re-enrolment — and an outfit that has vanished with its records was not an RTO to begin with. Assessment records are separately retained for 2 years after completion of the training product.

There is also a deadline running the other way, for the first issue. An RTO must not issue certification documentation to anyone it has not assessed as meeting the requirements of the training product; and where you have been assessed as competent, it must issue the documentation within 30 calendar days from the completion of the assessment, provided you completed the unit and paid all agreed fees. If nothing has arrived a month after your assessment, that is a reason to ask.

For nationally recognised training, a Unique Student Identifier (USI) is generally required before a qualification or Statement of Attainment can be issued, unless an applicable exemption applies. See the official USI exemption guidance. A USI is free at usi.gov.au. If you already have one, recover it rather than creating another. Keep your certificate and ask the issuing RTO for a replacement if needed. A USI transcript can help verify reported training, but it is not a guarantee that every credential will appear. Queensland RSA does not itself expire. For a replacement certificate, contact the RTO that issued it.

Validity

A valid Statement of Attainment does not expire. OLGR: you only need to complete accredited RSA training once, unless you completed it before 2002. Training completed before 2002 is not valid and must be redone.

OLGR publishes free online RSA refresher courses with quizzes covering minors, ID checking, unduly intoxicated patrons, disorderly conduct, and promotions and practices. These are voluntary knowledge refreshers, not a condition of continued validity.

That voluntariness is a genuine contrast with Victoria, where the free RSA Refresher is mandatory every three years for every certificate holder and is the condition of the Victorian certificate staying current. Same word, entirely different legal weight.

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Online delivery

Online delivery is permitted. OLGR imposes no delivery-mode restriction — the requirement is the nationally recognised unit through an RTO.

OLGR does warn that many online courses do not meet Queensland's requirements even though they charge fees and claim to give the right certificate. The distinction OLGR is drawing is accredited versus unaccredited, not online versus face to face. Check for the unit code and the RTO. See RSA online for how delivery mode interacts with each state's rules.

Victoria treats delivery mode differently again: Liquor Control Victoria approves providers by mode, publishing one list of in-person providers — who may also deliver online using a live meeting platform — and a separate list of self-paced online providers. Queensland draws no such distinction.

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Interstate recognition

Queensland accepts an interstate RSA qualification where the evidence is a Statement of Attainment for the nationally accredited Provide Responsible Service of Alcohol course, including accepted older unit codes. A certificate of attendance is not enough. Valid RSA training generally does not expire, but training completed before 2002 must be replaced. See Queensland’s certificate requirements.

A state-issued card from another jurisdiction is not the operative document. The Statement of Attainment is. A New South Wales competency card, for example, is evidence of a NSW credential — what Queensland wants to see is the underlying Statement of Attainment.

Everyone — including international travellers and students — must hold it within 30 days of starting work at a licensed venue.

Recognition is not reciprocal, and that catches people leaving Queensland rather than arriving. Queensland takes anyone's certificate; Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia will not take a bare Queensland one. See the comparison table below before you plan a move.

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Who must hold it

Most staff who serve or supply alcohol at Queensland licensed premises, including licensed restaurants and cafes:

• Bartenders
• Floor staff
• Room service staff
• Under-18 staff

Exemption for supervised volunteers

Supervised volunteers at community organisations and events do not need current RSA where they serve under a community club licence, community other licence, community liquor permit or restricted liquor permit — provided someone with current RSA training supervises them.

This is a genuine point of difference. Volunteers are not exempt in New South Wales or Western Australia, and South Australia expressly catches all paid and volunteer staff engaged by a licensee who sell, offer for sale or serve alcohol. So a volunteer who pours at a community event in two states may need the certificate in one and not the other.

Minimum age

There is no minimum age. OLGR states there are no minimum age restrictions under the Liquor Act 1992. Under-18s may serve or supply alcohol in hotels, restaurants and cafes provided the venue does not hold an adult entertainment permit. Regardless of age, all staff who serve or supply alcohol must hold an RSA certificate.

Note that this differs from several other states, so do not assume the Queensland position applies elsewhere. Western Australia, by contrast, penalises a licensee $10,000 for employing a juvenile to sell, supply or serve alcohol. Victoria sits in between: an under-18 may complete RSA training there, but must be 18 to serve.

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Employer obligations

Licensees must keep copies of staff Statements of Attainment on the premises and make them available for inspection by OLGR compliance officers and Queensland Police. An RSA training register is not required in Queensland — which distinguishes it from Western Australia, where a register is a separate statutory obligation under s 103A(1)(b) of the Liquor Control Act 1988, alongside a copy of the certificate under reg 14AG(2) of the Liquor Control Regulations 1989.

A multi-state operator who builds one compliance process for both states will either carry an unnecessary register in Queensland or be short of one in WA. It is worth checking which obligation applies where.

Victoria adds a third variation: there the document the venue keeps is the state-issued RSA Certificate of Completion, not the Statement of Attainment. Liquor Control Victoria says staff do not need to hand over the Statement of Attainment at all, and that an employer can be fined for failing to keep the certificate. Victoria also puts the training duty itself on the licensee by name — under s 108AB of the Liquor Control Reform Act 1998 to ensure anyone who sells, offers for sale or serves liquor has completed an approved program, and under s 108AC to ensure each of them refreshes it within three years, at 60 penalty units each, with ss 108AD and 108AE covering keeping and producing the certificates at 5 penalty units each.

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Penalties

Queensland penalties are calculated in penalty units. The unit value is $172.70, current from 1 July and revalued annually.

Recurrent breaches also carry mandatory licence suspension. Two convictions relating to minors or intoxicated persons within two years suspends the licence automatically, and these feed into risk assessments for annual licence fees.

OLGR states generally that penalties apply if staff do not have the right RSA qualification. The specific amount attaching to the staff-training obligation itself is not published on OLGR's penalty tables, so it is not stated here.

Note that Queensland penalises the individual as well as the licensee on the substantive offences above — a bar attendant faces $13,816 for serving a minor. That differs from Victoria, where the RSA training offence provisions target the licensee rather than the server, and where the Act expresses those penalties in penalty units whose value is indexed each 1 July under the Monetary Units Act 2004. Do not carry one state's allocation of liability, or its arithmetic, across a border — and check the current penalty unit value in whichever state you are in rather than relying on a figure published on a web page.

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What the unit requires

To be assessed as competent in SITHFAB021, a candidate must be able to:

• Interpret the relevant legal requirements for the responsible sale or service of alcohol under the law of the applicable state or territory.
• Source and explain two organisational or house policies and procedures that must be followed for responsible sale or service.
• Use knowledge of industry requirements and professional standards to determine the volume for standard drinks or samples — performance criterion 2.1.
• Outline at least three early indicators of intoxication, with suitable intervention strategies to prevent intoxication.
• Identify erratic drinking patterns as an early sign of possible intoxication and take appropriate action — performance criterion 2.3. The unit names the patterns: mixing a wide range of drink types; drinking quickly and in quick succession; ordering more than one drink for own consumption; consistently returning to request more samples; ordering multiple or large samples; and ordering "triple shots" or extra-large drinks.
• Outline the procedure to refuse sale or service, and assist, each of three named groups of intoxicated customers: those in emotional or physical distress; those with no food consumption during extended service of alcohol; and those who appear to be under the effect of illicit substances or other drugs.
• Offer appropriate means of assistance — the unit names assisting the customer to connect with their designated driver or companions, offering alternatives to alcohol including food or non-alcoholic drinks, and organising or providing relevant information on transport for a customer wishing to leave, all in accordance with house policy.
• Request and obtain acceptable proof of age before sale or service where appropriate, and identify customers to whom service must be refused under the applicable law, including minors and those purchasing on behalf of minors.
• Interpret organisational or house requirements and outline communication and conflict-resolution skills for asking two different intoxicated customers to leave: one compliant customer, and one difficult customer refusing to leave.

Note the verbs: the candidate must outline and explain these in their own words, not recognise them from a list. That is the practical test of whether a course is delivering the unit, and it is why a multiple-choice quiz alone cannot evidence it — which is the substance behind OLGR's warning about online courses.

The unit's second element is titled Assist customers to drink within appropriate limits, and that is where the erratic-pattern test and the means of assistance sit. Refusal is what happens when that has not worked, which is a useful way to read the Queensland penalty table: the offences above are about service to a minor or a disorderly patron, and the unit's design is to stop a shift arriving at either.

In Queensland that unit is the whole of the requirement. States that regulate the provider can require more: the approved Victorian course carries SITHFAB021 plus Victorian liquor laws, drink spiking, ID checks and preventing secondary supply, the use of prone restraint, harm minimisation, and compliance and enforcement. That extra content is part of why the two courses are not interchangeable in the direction that matters.

RSA is also an academic prerequisite

This surprises people who think of RSA purely as a liquor-licensing matter, and it changes how a training plan should be sequenced.

SITHFAB021 is a formal prerequisite for SITHFAB034 Provide table service of food and beverage. Formal table service cannot be awarded until you hold RSA, whether or not the role involves pouring wine — the training package treats advising a customer through a menu in a licensed dining room as work presupposing responsible service of alcohol competence. SITHFAB034 is one of four units in the food and beverage stream carrying two or more prerequisites. It and SITHFAB023 Operate a bar each carry two — SITHFAB021 and SITXFSA005 Use hygienic practices for food safety — while SITHFAB030 Prepare and serve cocktails and SITHFAB039 Manage the sale or service of wine each carry three. RSA is itself a prerequisite to nine units in that stream, the same number as SITXFSA005. RSA is also a prerequisite, together with SITXFSA005, to SITHFAB023 Operate a bar.

So even someone whose Queensland venue is satisfied by the bare certificate may need the unit to progress further in the training package. See restaurant waiting and hospitality package.

Note also that SITSS00071 the Responsible Service of Alcohol skill set and SITHFAB021 the unit are different entries on the national register. We hold both.

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If you already hold RSA from another RTO

Queensland accepts it outright, so there is usually nothing to do. If you are enrolling in a qualification that contains the unit, that is credit transfer under Standard 1.7 of the Outcome Standards for RTOs — a document check with no reassessment. That is different from recognition of prior learning under Standard 1.6, which assesses prior skills, learning and experience and is a genuine assessment rather than a waiver. We first verify the evidence and equivalence, check that the units fit your training product, and check for licensing or regulatory restrictions before granting credit. See ASQA’s credit-transfer guidance.

Raise either at the pre-training review, which an RTO must conduct under Standard 2.2 of the Outcome Standards for RTOs before enrolment. See skills assessment.

Neither mechanism, though, discharges a state licensing requirement. Credit transfer moves the national unit; it does not produce a Victorian certificate or a NSW competency card.

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Does RSA affect your pay?

Not on its own — a single unit does not move an award classification. A completed Certificate III, relevant to your classification and actually used at work, sets a minimum classification of Level 4 under three of the four awards covering hospitality premises: MA000009 (cl 18.1), MA000119 (cl 18.1) and MA000058 (cl 18.3). The fast food award, MA000003, has no equivalent provision.

RSA is a core unit of SIT30722, so it is a genuine step toward that floor rather than a dead end.

And a whole qualification is not the only route. The awards define an appropriate level of training three ways: completing a training program meeting the training and assessment requirements of a qualification or one or more appropriate units of competency from a training package; or being assessed by a qualified skills assessor as having at least equivalent skills; or, as at a specified date, having been doing the work of that classification for at least three months. Long-serving Queensland bar staff without certificates should read that third limb.

Which award applies is decided by the premises, not the job title. A bar inside a hotel or pub is MA000009; a not-for-profit registered club is MA000058, because MA000009 clause 4.4(d)(i) expressly excludes clubs registered or recognised under state or territory legislation; a standalone restaurant, cafe or night club is MA000119, a night club being commercial rather than not-for-profit; and a food-court or takeaway counter is MA000003.

Under MA000119, Schedule A defines the Level 4 classification as Food and beverage attendant grade 4 (tradesperson) alongside Cook grade 3 (tradesperson), and the award's own "standard rate" is the Level 4 rate. Two caveats: the qualification must be relevant to your classification and you must make use of the skills, so it is not automatic on completion; and MA000058 lets the Fair Work Commission require the employee to demonstrate they utilise the relevant skills. Dispute routes differ too — MA000009 clause 40, MA000119 clause 34, and for MA000058 referral to the Fair Work Commission. No pay rates, loadings or roster notice periods are published here — rates re-set every 1 July and those provisions differ between the awards, so use the Fair Work Ombudsman's Pay and Conditions Tool with your award code.

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How other jurisdictions compare

An RSA Statement of Attainment is a national training record, but permission to serve alcohol depends on the destination’s rules. NSW permits eligible temporary interstate workers; permanent movers and security or RSA marshal roles must meet NSW training and competency-card requirements, using bridging where eligible. Victoria offers bridging to eligible interstate holders. SA applies approved-provider rules to training from 1 November 2020, with earlier training not required to be repeated solely for that change. QLD and WA require suitable national RSA evidence. Tasmania distinguishes staff from licence holders; the ACT and NT have local currency and refresher requirements. Check the regulator before your first shift. See RSA recognition by jurisdiction, NSW’s rules and SA’s rules.

Victoria is the mildest of the three, and the distinction is worth drawing. South Australia requires training with a Commissioner-approved RTO, and New South Wales requires an L&GNSW-approved provider and issues a competency card. Victoria asks for the RSA Refresher — a free bridging course, online, taking about 90 minutes — and that course itself issues the Victorian RSA certificate. So a Queensland certificate holder moving to Melbourne faces a short free step rather than a re-sit; what they cannot do is simply present the Queensland certificate at a Victorian venue.

One asymmetry worth planning for if you are moving to New South Wales: a Queensland certificate qualifies you for the NSW bridging course if issued within the last five years, whereas Victorian, ACT and NT certificates qualify at three. Check the issue date against the right window. See RSA in New South Wales.

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Related pages

RSA in Australia has the full eight-jurisdiction matrix. The other state pages cover Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia. RSA online covers delivery mode, bartending the bar units RSA sits alongside, and all courses lists what is advertised.

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About us

Complete Hospitality Training, RTO 3722, CRICOS 04242E, Level 3, 28 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne VIC 3000, and 410 Elizabeth Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010. Contact melbourne@cht.edu.au or +61 3 9654 1554. See about us.

SITHFAB021 is on our scope of registration, both as a standalone unit and within the skill set SITSS00071 Responsible Service of Alcohol. Completing it produces a nationally recognised Statement of Attainment, which is the document Queensland requires. Our scope holds 17 current qualifications, 81 current skill sets and 579 units in total.

To be precise about what that means: Queensland recognises the national credential itself. It is not a claim that we hold any Queensland regulator approval, because no such approval scheme exists for RSA. We do appear on Liquor Control Victoria's list of approved RSA course providers — on LCV's in-person list, which permits delivery in person or online using a meeting platform — but that is a Victorian approval under a Victorian scheme and is irrelevant to a Queensland venue.

We link to the relevant course and regulatory sources in this guide. Check those sources for current requirements, and confirm course availability, delivery, fees and entry requirements with us before enrolling.