Can I renew my RSA online in Victoria?

Yes. Victoria's RSA renewal is the RSA Refresher. It is online, it is free, it takes about 90 minutes, and it is what keeps a Victorian RSA certificate current. You do not repeat the full course.

The one thing you need before you start is your original RSA certificate number. If you cannot find it, sort that out first, because the refresher asks for it — and there is a published way to recover it, set out below.

The three-year cycle

A Victorian RSA Certificate of Completion is current for three years. An RSA Refresher every three years keeps it current.

It binds every certificate holder, not only licensees. Liquor Control Victoria's wording is that you must do the free RSA Refresher course every three years to keep your RSA certificate current. That attaches to anyone holding a Victorian RSA certificate — a casual bar attendant as much as a venue owner. Licensees carry a separate, additional obligation under s 108AA of the Liquor Control Reform Act 1998 to complete an approved program within three years of last completing one, and a further duty under s 108AC to ensure each person who sells, offers for sale or serves liquor does the same. Those are licensee duties on top of your own currency, not a substitute for it.

Victoria is on the shorter end of the national picture. The Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory also run three-year cycles. New South Wales runs a five-year competency card. Queensland and Western Australia impose no expiry at all — in those two states you complete accredited RSA training once and it does not lapse, with the single exception of Queensland training completed before 2002, which is invalid.

If you work across a border, diarise the shorter of the two periods. See how long does an RSA last for the full eight-jurisdiction position.

The one thing that never expires

Before going further it is worth separating the two documents, because only one of them has a clock on it.

So strictly speaking your training never lapses. What lapses is the Victorian certificate sitting on top of it. That distinction explains why the Refresher is short and free rather than a full re-enrolment: you are not being retrained, you are being brought up to date on the law and re-issued a current certificate.

It also explains which document your employer wants. LCV states that what the venue keeps on site is the RSA Certificate of Completion, and that "you do not need to give them the Statement of Attainment that course providers issue". Employers can be fined for not holding the certificate.

What the refresher is, and what it is not

These two things get run together constantly, so it is worth separating them carefully — while being precise about the one respect in which they overlap.

The Learning Hub stage is part of getting your certificate in the first place. When you complete SITHFAB021 with an LCV-approved provider, the provider sends your details to Liquor Control Victoria. LCV emails you a certificate number. You use that to create an account on the LCV Learning Hub and complete three components: a pre-training survey, the module Sexual Harassment and Assault: Recognise, Prevent and Respond, and a post-training survey. Only then can you download the RSA Certificate of Completion. Since 1 December 2025 that module has been required to work in many Victorian licensed venues.

The RSA Refresher is a separate, later event. It is what you do three years after that, to keep the certificate current. It is free, online, about 90 minutes, and it needs the certificate number from the first time round.

But the sexual harassment and assault module is in both. LCV states that RSA training, "including the RSA Refresher course", now includes a module to help you recognise, prevent and respond to sexual harassment and assault at a licensed venue or location. So it is not a one-time hurdle you clear at initial certification and never see again. If you are told the refresher skips it, that is wrong.

Being clear about which of the two stages you are looking at still matters, because one is a first-time requirement and the other is a renewal, and people who confuse them either think they have finished when they have not, or pay for something they should not be paying for.

If you are doing this for the first time rather than renewing, read how to get an RSA certificate instead.

The refresher is also the bridging course

This is the detail that makes the Refresher do double duty, and it is easy to miss because the two purposes are usually written about separately.

In Victoria, an interstate RSA certificate generally cannot be used on its own. Eligible holders can apply for the free RSA Refresher bridging course to obtain a Victorian certificate. LCV requires approved original RSA training completed within the last three years and, for an online course, residence interstate or overseas at the time. Allow about ten working days for the application. LCV lists a specific exemption for interstate liquor producers at qualifying temporary or major events. Check the Victorian eligibility and event rules before relying on a certificate.

So the same free 90-minute instrument serves two different people: the Victorian whose three years are up, and the interstate arrival who has never held a Victorian certificate at all. Eligibility for the bridging use requires all three of: RSA training approved by a state or territory liquor licensing authority; original training completed within the last three years; and that you were living interstate or overseas if you completed the course online. Applications outside those criteria are declined, and processing takes about 10 working days. Separate exemptions exist for interstate staff supplying alcohol at a producer's event.

Does the refresher cost anything?

No. The Victorian RSA Refresher is free.

If someone quotes you a training fee for a Victorian RSA refresher, ask what exactly you are paying for. Victoria is not the only jurisdiction where the refresher is free — Licensing NT also runs a free one, at ntrefreshrsa.com. In New South Wales the refresher course itself is not charged either; what you pay there is the competency card issue fee.

See how much an RSA course costs for what is and is not a real cost in each state.

Who has to keep an RSA current in Victoria

The requirement attaches to the individual, not the venue. A current RSA Certificate of Completion is required to supply alcohol at a Victorian licensed venue under a General, On-premises, Late night or Packaged liquor licence, where the job includes:

• offering alcoholic drinks
• taking orders or payment for alcohol
• pouring or serving alcoholic drinks

It is also required when applying for a permanent licence or a licence transfer — with the express exceptions of a BYO permit and a pre-retail licence — or where a licence condition requires it. Note separately that Advanced RSA training is a distinct Victorian requirement attaching to some licence types only; it is not something every staff member needs and it is not a renewal of the ordinary certificate.

Victorian RSA can be completed before you start supplying alcohol, or within one month of first supplying it. Most venues want to see it at hiring regardless — partly because under s 108AB of the Liquor Control Reform Act 1998 the licensee must be able to show that anyone who sells, offers for sale or serves liquor has completed an approved program, either in the three years before first serving or within one month after.

See who needs an RSA course.

Who can deliver the initial Victorian course

Victorian RSA must be delivered by an LCV-approved RSA provider. Being a Registered Training Organisation is not sufficient on its own in Victoria. This is one of only four jurisdictions, alongside New South Wales, South Australia and the ACT, that run an approved-provider register at all.

And there is a refinement that matters before you book anything: LCV approves providers by delivery mode. It publishes two separate lists.

A provider on one list is not approved for the other mode. So "LCV-approved" is not a single fact, and it is worth asking which list, for the mode you are actually buying.

We are on LCV's in-person list, under one-day RSA course providers, verified against LCV's own list on 30 September 2026. We are not on LCV's separate self-paced online provider list. So we deliver Victorian RSA in person, or online using a live meeting platform — not as a self-paced online course. If self-paced online is what you need in Victoria, choose from LCV's published online providers.

Approved providers may display the Liquor Control Victoria Approved RSA Provider wordmark, and LCV tells readers to look for it. Verify it against LCV's own published list rather than relying on the image, because a logo can be copied onto any website and a register cannot. Apply that to us as well as to anyone else. See beware of RSA course scams and the difference between a good and a bad course provider.

There is a hard consequence if you get this wrong. LCV states that a course it has not approved yields only an RSA Statement of Attainment, and that "this does not allow you to supply alcohol in Victorian licensed venues or locations". The training is real; the permission never existed, and there is nothing to refresh.

The Victorian course carries state content that the bare national unit does not: Victorian liquor laws, drink spiking, ID checks and preventing secondary supply, the use of prone restraint, harm minimisation, compliance and enforcement, and recognising, preventing and responding to sexual harassment and assault at a licensed venue. LCV permits training in person or online — the constraint is which list the provider is on, not the mode as such.

The converse is the scam signal. Queensland and Western Australia operate no approved-provider register for RSA whatsoever. Queensland's regulator directs candidates to the national register of RTOs holding SITHFAB021 on scope, and Western Australia requires no state approval and no top-up module. A provider advertising itself as "OLGR-approved" or "DLGSC-approved" for RSA is therefore describing a scheme that does not exist — and the national VET rules make that a breach rather than mere puffery, because an RTO may only represent that completing a training product leads to a licensed or regulated outcome where the relevant industry regulator has confirmed it.

What renewal means in each jurisdiction

"Renewal" is not one thing nationally. In three jurisdictions it is a short refresher; in one it is a card; in two there is nothing to renew.

Current regulator guidance: NSW, VIC, SA, QLD, WA, NT, ACT, TAS.

Four details in that table are worth drawing out.

Queensland's "refresher" is not a renewal at all. OLGR publishes free online RSA refresher courses with quizzes covering minors, ID checking, unduly intoxicated patrons, disorderly conduct, and promotions and practices — but they are voluntary knowledge refreshers, not a condition of the certificate staying valid. Same word as Victoria's, entirely different legal weight.

The Northern Territory refresher is the narrowest. The initial course can come from any RTO with the unit on scope, but the refresher must come from a body approved by the NT Liquor Commission. Being a registered RTO is not sufficient for the NT refresher. A proposed amendment in the Liquor Legislation Amendment (Fast Track Approvals) Bill 2026 would extend the NT refresher period from three years to five; as at 1 September 2026 the operative rule is still three years, so do not plan around the longer period.

The ACT prescribes the shape of the refresher itself. It must run at least one hour excluding assessment, a face-to-face class is capped at 30 participants, it must cover ACT-specific legislative content, and it must include procedures for checking that the person completed the full ACT-approved program, a recognised interstate program, or a program recognised under transitional arrangements. The three-year clock runs from the day of satisfactory completion and applies to interstate certificates as well as ACT-issued ones. We were not on the Access Canberra approved list as at 1 September 2026.

Tasmania is two tiers, and only one of them is easy. Serving staff may rely on RSA from any Australian jurisdiction delivering the listed units, with no approval or Tasmanian-content requirement. A person exercising effective control over the sale, service and consumption of liquor — a licence holder — needs a course from an RTO approved by the Commissioner for Licensing, including Tasmanian legislative content and a practical assessment of RSA skills. Tasmania is the only one of the eight to attach a practical-assessment condition explicitly. We are not on the Tasmanian Commissioner's register, so our Statement of Attainment does not serve the Tasmanian licence-holder tier.

The management tiers that renew on their own clocks

If you have moved up from serving to managing, the credential you need to keep current may not be RSA at all.

Queensland — RMLV. The Responsible Management of Licensed Venues certificate is a state credential developed and delivered by the Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation, through OLGR-approved trainers. Licensees and approved managers holding a current RMLV certificate do not need a separate RSA certificate, and RMLV certificates expire three years after issue. So in a state where RSA never expires, the manager's credential does — which reverses the usual pattern, and means an expired RMLV can leave a manager with no current credential at all. Note also that the approved-trainer requirement belongs to RMLV, not RSA; do not carry it across.

Western Australia — the approved manager card. Serving staff and restricted approved managers need the RSA course. An unrestricted approved manager, or a licensee other than under an occasional licence, needs the Course in Management of Licensed Premises, with RSA as a prerequisite. The approved manager card attaches to the manager tier only, is valid five years, and is renewable online without re-sitting the training — but it requires a national police clearance no more than three months old. Again, that renewal belongs to the manager card, not to RSA, which does not expire in Western Australia.

If you trained outside Victoria

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.

The asymmetry catches people out. NSW gives Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania a five-year window, and Victoria, the ACT and the NT only three years, because it matches each origin jurisdiction's own currency period. A Victorian who let their certificate lapse four years ago is outside the NSW bridging pathway even though their state's certificate could have been refreshed.

Coming the other way, the Victorian route is the free bridging course, which is the RSA Refresher — the same instrument described above. To be eligible, your original training must have been approved by a state or territory liquor licensing authority, completed within the last three years, and if it was completed online you must have been living interstate or overseas at the time. Applications outside those criteria are declined, and processing takes about 10 working days.

For South Australia, check the training date and provider approval. Training from 1 November 2020 must be through a Liquor and Gambling Commissioner-approved RTO. CBS states that people who completed RSA before that date do not have to repeat it with an approved provider solely because of that change. An interstate location alone does not decide acceptance. See SA’s approved-provider guidance.

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.

If your certificate has already lapsed

If more than three years have passed, ask whether the Refresher is still open to you or whether you need the full course again. The published Victorian material describes the refresher as the mechanism for keeping a certificate current, and does not state a cut-off beyond which it closes. Rather than guess, contact Liquor Control Victoria on 1300 182 457 or your provider before booking anything.

Recovering your certificate number

If the blocker is the number rather than the currency, there is a published procedure and you do not need to redo anything. The number sits at the top or bottom of your certificate, depending on when it was issued. If you no longer have the certificate, email contact@liquor.vic.gov.au with:

• your full name
• your date of birth
• when you completed the original course
• the name of the training organisation

LCV verifies those details and provides the number. That is the fastest route and it costs nothing.

If what you have lost is the Statement of Attainment rather than the Victorian certificate, that is a records request to the RTO that issued it. RTOs must retain records of the certification documentation they have issued for 30 years, and your completion is also recorded against your USI on your national training transcript — which is part of why the USI matters. You can also log in to the LCV Learning Hub to download the Certificate of Completion again.

If the document you are holding carries an unfamiliar provider name, check the RTO number rather than the name. RTO 3722 has traded under six names, five current — Victorian Bar School, Complete Hospitality Training, Ready Serve Achieve Melbourne, Coffee School by CHT and Alchemy Institute of Australia — and a sixth, Complete Healthcare Training, which ran from 24 October 2023 to 19 April 2025. A document in that retired name is still an RTO 3722 credential.

Renewal does not affect what you can study

One practical point for anyone moving beyond the bar. SITHFAB021 is not only a licensing requirement; it is a unit with a place in the training package, and it is a prerequisite to two other units:

That is satisfied by having completed the unit, not by holding a current state certificate — so a lapsed Victorian certificate does not block you from enrolling in those units, even though it does block you from working. Those are the two units in the food and beverage stream carrying two prerequisites, and the gate applies regardless of whether the venue is licensed.

SITHFAB021 is also a core unit of SIT30722 Certificate III in Hospitality (Restaurant Front of House), and appears on our scope inside SITSS00071 Responsible service of alcohol and SITSS00070 Hospitality Compliance, which packages it with SITXFSA005 and SITXFSA006. For scale, our scope carries 17 current qualifications, 81 current skill sets and 579 current units, all at the extent Deliver and assess. See SIT30722 and bartending course.

Practical checklist

About us

We are 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 the RSA page, RSA online, RSA in Melbourne, RSA Sydney and RSA Perth. Confirm any provider's current LCV approval status, and the delivery mode it covers, on Liquor Control Victoria's own register before enrolling, including ours.

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.