Five Tips To Help You Get Into Hospitality Management

Most hospitality managers started by clearing plates. The route from the floor to a management role is not a secret — it runs along a qualification ladder that the Australian Qualifications Framework sets out plainly, and alongside a classification ladder that an industrial award sets out just as plainly. Certificate III is operational, Certificate IV is supervisory, and the Diploma sits at AQF level 5, which is where management study formally begins. Complete Hospitality Training delivers to AQF 5 and no higher.

The habits that move you toward management

Our original five-tips guide starts with a broader view than qualifications alone. Learn how the venue works both at the guest-facing end and behind the scenes. Get practical service experience and ask people in different roles what their work entails; industry events and colleagues can widen that network. Be adaptable when a roster, guest need or service procedure changes. Take initiative by noticing a problem and discussing a proposed improvement with your manager before changing a process on your own.

Those habits give you examples to discuss in a supervisory interview. The qualification path below provides assessed knowledge and a way to credit prior learning, but it works best alongside real responsibility, feedback and relationships built at work.

1. Finish the operational qualification, then put it to work

A Certificate III is the base of the ladder, and it carries a concrete benefit on the payslip. But before the benefit, the coverage question, because it decides which pay table you are even looking at.

Which award applies is determined by the premises, not the job title, and there are four possibilities in and around hospitality:

Premises	Award
Hotels, pubs, taverns, motels, resorts, casinos, caterers, accommodation	MA000009 Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020
Not-for-profit registered clubs — RSL, bowls, golf, surf, sporting, community	MA000058 Registered and Licensed Clubs Award 2020
Standalone restaurants, cafes, night clubs, reception centres, roadhouses	MA000119 Restaurant Industry Award 2020
Takeaway, food courts, food sold mainly to be eaten away from the counter	MA000003 Fast Food Industry Award 2010

Each covers its industry to the exclusion of any other modern award, so exactly one applies to a given employer. Two traps to carry into any management conversation:

Clubs are not covered by MA000009. Clause 4.4(d)(i) expressly excludes "clubs registered or recognised under State or Territory legislation". A registered club sits under MA000058, and only where it is both registered under a liquor, gaming, associations or corporations statute and operating not-for-profit for the benefit of members and the community (clause 4.3).
Night clubs are not clubs. A night club is a commercial venue, so it falls under MA000119 with restaurants and cafes.

The benefit, and it exists in three of those four awards

An employee who holds a relevant AQF Certificate III or higher and uses those competencies in the job has a minimum award classification of Level 4:

Award	Floor	Rate clause
MA000009 Hospitality Industry (General)	Level 4	clause 18.1
MA000119 Restaurant Industry	Level 4	clause 18.1
MA000058 Registered and Licensed Clubs	Level 4	clause 18.3
MA000003 Fast Food	no equivalent provision	—

There are two conditions in that sentence and both have to hold: the qualification must be relevant to the classification you are employed in, and you must make use of the competencies in the work you actually do. A certificate in a drawer is not the test.

And there is a detail in the restaurant award worth the whole of tip 1. Under MA000119, Schedule A defines Level 4 as "Food and beverage attendant grade 4 (tradesperson)" and "Cook grade 3 (tradesperson)", and the Level 4 rate is that award's standard rate — the benchmark the rest of the award is calculated from. So in a cafe or a standalone restaurant, a relevant Certificate III used at work is an explicit route to a tradesperson grade without serving an apprenticeship. That is the single strongest reason to finish the operational qualification rather than stall at "experienced".

Three differences to respect, because this is a pay entitlement and the wording is not identical:

MA000009 and MA000119 require you to make use of the skills and knowledge derived from the Certificate III competencies.
MA000058 states the floor for "AQF Certificate III qualifications" without the words "or higher", and adds that the Fair Work Commission may require the employee to demonstrate that they utilise the relevant skills.
Dispute routes differ: clause 40 under MA000009, clause 34 under MA000119, and referral to the Fair Work Commission under MA000058.

Only MA000003, the fast food award, has no equivalent provision — worth knowing if a food-court role looks like a convenient stepping stone.

It is worth knowing what "put it to work" means in MA000009 terms. Clause 2 defines when an employee has the appropriate level of training:

completed an appropriate training program meeting the training and assessment requirements of a qualification or one or more appropriate units of competency forming part of a training package; or
been assessed by a qualified skills assessor as having skills at least equivalent to that training; or
as at 30 June 2010, had been doing the work of that classification for at least three months.

Limb 1 is the useful one. Units count, not only whole qualifications, so a Statement of Attainment for the right units is not a consolation prize. Limb 2 is the reason a formal skills assessment has weight. Limb 3 is a closed transitional provision fixed to 30 June 2010, not a rolling three-month test, so it is of no use to anyone starting now.

SIT30622 Certificate III in Hospitality comprises 15 units (6 core, 9 elective) and SIT30722 Certificate III in Hospitality (Restaurant Front of House) comprises 20 (9 core, 11 elective). Both are available in all eight states and territories, and neither has entry requirements. The difference worth noting: in SIT30722, RSA (SITHFAB021) and processing financial transactions (SITXFIN007) are core, not elective.

The broader MA000009 structure, for context: an Introductory level plus Levels 1 to 6, across five streams — food and beverage, kitchen, guest services, clerical and casino gaming. Clause 14 obliges the employer to classify every employee in accordance with Schedule A. Introductory level is time-limited to three months, extendable once by mutual agreement by a further three, with six months the maximum before the employee moves to Level 1. Level 4 is also that award's own reference point — the standard weekly and hourly rate from which apprentice percentages are calculated. And under clause 3.3 the employer must make the award and the National Employment Standards available on a noticeboard or by accessible electronic means, so you can read the document that classifies you.

Unlike the Level 4 floor, those are MA000009 provisions and do not travel. MA000058, MA000119 and MA000003 each have their own Schedule A, with their own classification names and numbering and their own clause numbering. So the qualification floor follows you between pub, club and restaurant; the level numbering above and below it does not.

This page prints no rates. Award rates re-set every 1 July, so confirm current figures with the Fair Work Ombudsman's Pay and Conditions Tool for the award code that covers your venue.

2. Choose the supervisory step deliberately

Certificate IV is the supervisory rung, and there are two credible options at that point. They are not interchangeable.

	BSB40520 Certificate IV in Leadership and Management	SIT40422 Certificate IV in Hospitality
Units	12 (5 core, 7 elective, 4 drawn from Group A)	21 (9 core, 12 elective)
Focus	Leadership and management skills portable across any industry	Hospitality-specific supervision and operations
Availability	All eight states and territories	All eight states and territories
CRICOS	Not CRICOS-registered	CRICOS 116358F
Note	Supersedes BSB42015 and is equivalent to it	One of only three of our CRICOS-registered courses

The content difference is visible in the core. BSB40520's five core units are demonstrating leadership in the workplace, leading effective workplace relationships, coordinating business operational plans, applying communication strategies and leading and facilitating a team. SIT40422's nine core units include three human resources units — coaching others in job skills, rostering staff, and leading and managing people — plus managing conflict, managing finances within a budget, monitoring work operations, enhancing customer service experiences, working effectively in hospitality service, and implementing and monitoring WHS practices.

The practical test is where the career is heading. Someone who expects to stay in venues, and who wants supervisory content tied to service, kitchens and compliance, is better served by SIT40422. Someone who may move between industries, or sideways into an office or retail role, gets more mileage from the portability of BSB40520 — which is also the shorter of the two at 12 units. International students studying on a student visa have no choice to weigh here: BSB40520 is not CRICOS-registered, so SIT40422 is the available path.

One caution about sequencing, though. The Level 4 floor in tip 1 is keyed to a Certificate III relevant to the classification you are employed in, which a general business qualification will not usually satisfy in a food and beverage or kitchen classification. If you skip the operational Certificate III and go straight to BSB40520, you gain portability and lose that floor.

3. Take on the tasks that generate evidence

Supervisory and management units are assessed against what a supervisor actually does: rostering to a budget, ordering and stock control, running a shift briefing, resolving a complaint, monitoring compliance. Volunteering for those tasks before any formal promotion serves three purposes, not two.

It builds the competence. It produces the dated, documented workplace evidence that recognition of prior learning is assessed against later. And it triggers a clause.

Under clause 22 of MA000009, where an employee performs two or more hours in a day at a higher classification, they attract the higher rate for the whole day; where it is less than two hours, they attract the higher rate for the time worked only. Food and beverage attendants grades 2 and 3 are excluded from that provision. So the shift you cover for an absent supervisor is a mechanism, not a favour — and the same dated record supports both the higher duties position and the RPL application.

What to keep: rosters you wrote, order sheets you signed, a note of the date and length of each shift run above your classification, a position description if one exists, and the name of a supervisor prepared to verify it. Written at the time, not reconstructed two years later.

What to be able to demonstrate before you apply

The management units in SIT40422 and SIT50422 do not ask for opinions about leadership. They ask for a counted number of specific things done in a workplace. Reading them as a checklist tells you exactly which experiences to go and get first, and which gaps will slow an RPL claim down. Each row below is the unit's own requirement, not a suggestion.

Unit	What you should be able to point to
`SITXHRM008` Roster staff (core in `SIT40422` and `SIT50422`)	A roster you actually built to a wage budget and to the relevant industrial agreement; a team rostered with a complementary skills mix; colleagues you consulted before publishing it; the roster issued in the required format within the designated timeframe; records of shift time actually completed, not shifts as planned; and one improvement you made to the roster process after evaluating it
`SITXHRM009` Lead and manage people (core in `SIT40422`, `SIT50322` and `SIT50422`)	At least four of seven leadership roles — decision making, delegation of tasks, information provision, monitoring performance, provision of feedback, motivation through recognition and rewards, planning and organising — plus two separate occasions on which you sought and responded to team member feedback about allocation or performance of work, effectiveness of communication, or efficiency or deficiency in workplace practices
`SITXMGT004` Monitor work operations (core in `SIT40422` and `SIT50422`)	Workflow you planned for a team operation covering at least six contingencies from the nine named: delays and time difficulties, difficult customer service situations, equipment breakdown or technical failure, financial resources, staffing levels and skill profiles, rostering requirements, staff performance, procedural requirements, and product development and marketing. Plus completed records including performance reports and staff records
`SITXCOM010` Manage conflict (core in `SIT40422` and `SIT50422`)	Three escalated customer complaints or disputes from the eight named situations, and two team member disputes from four: an argument among work colleagues, a drug or alcohol-affected person, job duties or rosters, or lack of competence. Plus how you applied the organisation's procedure for evaluating the resolution afterwards
`SITXHRM012` Monitor staff performance (current on our scope)	Performance monitored against at least six of ten named standards — adherence to procedures, cost minimisation, customer service standards, level of accuracy in work, personal presentation, productivity, punctuality, response times, team interaction, waste minimisation — plus a case of informal counselling followed up in the workplace, and a formal counselling session if you have run one

Three of those five are worth reading twice before you apply for anything.

Rostering is a compliance task, not a scheduling task. Element 1.1 of SITXHRM008 requires rosters to be developed according to relevant industrial agreements, which means a roster that breaches the award is not a competent roster no matter how well it covers the trade. The unit expects you to know about leave, mandated breaks between shifts, maximum allowed shift hours, and standard, overtime and penalty pay rates — and to take account of social and cultural considerations and organisational policies, including leave for carers, compassion, illness, study, maternity and paternity, and long service. The figures themselves live in the award covering the premises, not in the unit. See steps for rostering and time management.

The rostering unit and the conflict unit are joined. "Job duties or rosters" is one of only four team-dispute categories SITXCOM010 names. The roster is the thing a new supervisor most fully controls and the thing most likely to produce the dispute they are then assessed on resolving, so the same experience can serve both units.

Recognition is a criterion, not a style. Both SITXHRM009 and SITXHRM012 require it: motivation through recognition and rewards is one of the seven leadership roles, and providing recognition and rewards for achievement and outstanding performance is an explicit performance criterion of SITXHRM012. If you cannot describe a time you recognised someone else's work, that is a gap to fix before you apply, not after.

If you take the business route instead

The demonstration list changes shape. Two units current on our scope carry the equivalent content:

BSBLDR522 Manage people performance. Be able to point to performance standards and key performance indicators developed and confirmed with the staff themselves; a risk analysis done against the organisational risk management plan and legal requirements; participants you trained in the performance management and review process; feedback documented in the performance management system rather than given only verbally; at least one performance improvement and development plan; and excellence reinforced through recognition and continuous feedback.
BSBTWK502 Manage team effectiveness. Be able to point to at least one work team whose effectiveness you managed; a team performance plan with expected outcomes, KPIs and goals built with stakeholder input; a strategy that gave team members real input into planning, decision making and operational aspects of the work; a policy or practice promoting team member accountability; formal and informal learning opportunities you arranged for the team; and an unresolved concern raised by a team member that you communicated and followed up with line management.

This page does not state which business qualification either unit sits in as core or elective — check the packaging rules for the qualification you enrol in. For the full breakdown of what each qualification assesses, see careers in hospitality management.

4. Plan the Diploma, and check where it is delivered

SIT50422 Diploma of Hospitality Management is 28 units — 11 core, 17 elective — and holds CRICOS 115534C. One constraint matters more than any other for planning: it is delivered in Victoria only. Learners based elsewhere should plan on that basis rather than assume national availability, and should raise location early through a course enquiry. SIT50322 Diploma of Event Management, 20 units with 13 core, CRICOS 118427D, carries the same Victoria-only restriction. Note that the training.gov.au scope register carries no jurisdiction field, so those state limits come from our own delivery information rather than the national register, and should be confirmed with us. What the register does show is the size of the scope: 17 current qualifications, 81 current skill sets and 579 current units, every component at extent "Deliver and assess", with SIR30216 Certificate III in Retail having ended on 28 June 2024.

With only 11 of 28 units core, the elective choice genuinely shapes what the Diploma is worth to you. The elective split requires one unit from Group A (Hygiene), one from Group B (Operations), eleven from Group C (Hospitality) and four from Group C, Group D, elsewhere in SIT or another current training package. The Group B Operations options include SITHCCC043 Work effectively as a cook and SITHKOP013 Plan cooking operations — so the management Diploma obliges you to hold at least one operational unit.

And the core tells you what the job is. Two of the eleven are compliance units: SITXGLC002 Identify and manage legal risks and comply with law and SITXWHS007 Implement and monitor work health and safety practices. Which is worth reading as a warning as much as a feature — a venue manager is the person who carries legal risk. In practice that means applying the correct award and classifying staff under its Schedule A — including applying the Level 4 floor above to your own team, which is exactly the kind of provision that produces back-pay claims when it is missed — consulting on work health and safety (in New South Wales, workers must be able to contribute to the decision-making and be advised of the outcome in a timely manner, a higher standard than Victoria's), notifying incidents (Victoria: a written record within 48 hours, retained at least five years; New South Wales: immediate notification by the fastest possible means), and, if the venue has a kitchen that cooks, running all three Standard 3.2.2A food safety tools — food handler training, a Food Safety Supervisor on a certificate issued within the preceding five years, and substantiation records kept three months and accessible at the premises.

Electives are not free choice, incidentally. Under the packaging rules they must be guided by the job outcome sought, local industry requirements and the complexity of skills appropriate to the AQF level, and must contribute to a valid, industry-supported vocational outcome.

If funding is part of the plan: Victorian subsidised training runs through Skills First, which requires you to be an Australian citizen, permanent visa holder or New Zealand citizen, and to undertake all training and assessment while physically present in Victoria or a listed border-region postcode, within volume caps of two skill sets and two AQF qualifications per calendar year and a maximum of two programs at a time. Use the Victorian Government's own eligibility indicator as the authoritative source, and confirm your own position with the provider, which makes the determination. Our New South Wales delivery is fee-for-service.

5. Do not repeat what has already been learned

Recognition of prior learning and credit transfer are two mechanisms, not one, and knowing the difference saves time.

	Recognition of prior learning	Credit transfer
Standard	1.6	1.7
What is assessed	Evidence of prior skills, learning and experience against the unit requirements, through the RTO's assessment system	Prior completion of an equivalent training product
Evidence you bring	Payslips, position descriptions, references, dated records of shifts run, a supervisor prepared to verify	AQF certification documentation or an authenticated VET transcript
Outcome	Units signed off where the evidence holds; you study the remainder	The unit is credited, unless prevented by a licensing or regulatory requirement

Both Standards require the RTO to offer the opportunity, publish its policy, document the decision, and decide in a way that is fair, transparent, consistent among students and protective of the integrity of the training product. Where the evidence holds, the unit is signed off and not repeated.

Every learner completes a pre-training review before enrolling, and that review is where prior study, current role, current competencies, a realistic study load and support needs are worked through together — and where RPL and credit transfer opportunities are identified. It is also where any licensing or occupational licence requirement attaching to your intended role must be disclosed to you, along with any work placement requirement and the process for obtaining a Student Identifier. A skills assessment is the usual starting point for someone with years on the floor and little on paper. Those already employed can also look at workplace training as the delivery route.

One administrative point that trips people up at this stage. We have traded under six names on the RTO 3722 record, and a certificate issued under any of them is an RTO 3722 credential. If the name on your paperwork does not match the provider you are naming to an employer, that is usually the explanation rather than a problem — the names are listed at the end of this page.

About us

We are Complete Hospitality Training — legal name Complete Hospitality Training (Vic) Pty Ltd, RTO 3722, CRICOS 04242E, ABN 27 006 947 262, ACN 006 947 262. Registered as RTO 3722 since 1 June 1994. Regulated nationally by ASQA since 8 September 2017, when registration transferred from the Victorian regulator (VRQA). The current registration period runs 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2032, exercised by ASQA under the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011.

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.

Trading names on the RTO 3722 record. Five are current — Victorian Bar School (from 1 June 1994, the original), Complete Hospitality Training (2011), Ready Serve Achieve Melbourne (2018), Coffee School by CHT (2021) and Alchemy Institute of Australia (2024). A sixth, Complete Healthcare Training, ran from 24 October 2023 to 19 April 2025 and has ended. A certificate issued under any of those names is an RTO 3722 credential.

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.

Source records and further guidance

We link the unit records and regulator guidance relevant to this page below. Check the current source before making an enrolment, licensing or employment decision.

Which Certificate IV suits a venue supervisor?

SIT40422 Certificate IV in Hospitality, at 21 units, keeps the content hospitality-specific — three of its nine core units are human resources units. BSB40520, at 12 units, trades that specificity for portability across industries.

Is a Diploma required to manage a venue?

Not as a matter of law. The Diploma sits at AQF level 5 and is where management-level study formally begins, but individual employers set their own requirements.

What should I be able to demonstrate before I apply for a supervisor role?

At minimum: a roster you built to a wage budget and to the relevant industrial agreement, four of the seven leadership roles named in SITXHRM009, two occasions on which you sought and acted on team feedback, workflow planned around six contingencies, and three customer disputes plus two team disputes you resolved. Those are the counted requirements of the SIT40422 and SIT50422 core units, so they are the experiences worth arranging before you apply rather than after.

How many team disputes will I have to show I resolved?

Two, from four named categories under SITXCOM010: an argument among work colleagues, a drug or alcohol-affected person, job duties or rosters, or lack of competence. Separately you need three escalated customer complaints or disputes, and in both cases you must apply the organisation's procedure for evaluating the resolution afterwards.

Do I need rostering evidence before I start the Certificate IV?

Not as an entry requirement, but it is the single most useful thing to have. SITXHRM008 expects rosters built to relevant industrial agreements and wage budgets, with records of shift time actually completed, and one improvement you made to the roster process after evaluating it with colleagues. Rosters you wrote in a previous role are strong RPL evidence; a general claim that you "helped with the roster" is not.

What standards will my own staff performance be judged against?

SITXHRM012 names ten and requires at least six to be used: adherence to procedures, cost minimisation, customer service standards, level of accuracy in work, personal presentation, productivity, punctuality, response times, team interaction and waste minimisation.

What is the business-route equivalent of the hospitality HR units?

BSBLDR522 Manage people performance and BSBTWK502 Manage team effectiveness, both current on our scope. BSBLDR522 expects KPIs developed and confirmed with staff, a risk analysis against the organisational risk management plan, and feedback documented in the performance management system. BSBTWK502 expects at least one work team managed, including formal and informal learning opportunities and unresolved concerns escalated to line management.

Which award covers my venue?

The premises decides, not the job title. Hotels, pubs, taverns, motels, resorts, casinos and caterers fall under MA000009; not-for-profit registered clubs under MA000058; standalone restaurants, cafes, night clubs, reception centres and roadhouses under MA000119; takeaway and food-court outlets under MA000003.

I want to manage an RSL or bowls club. Is that the hospitality award?

No. MA000009 clause 4.4(d)(i) expressly excludes clubs registered or recognised under State or Territory legislation. Registered not-for-profit clubs are covered by MA000058, which has its own classification structure — though it does carry its own version of the Level 4 qualification floor, at clause 18.3.

Is a night club covered by the clubs award?

No — MA000119, the Restaurant Industry Award, because a night club is a commercial venue rather than a not-for-profit registered club.

Can the Certificate IV in Leadership and Management be studied on a student visa?

No. BSB40520 is not CRICOS-registered. The CRICOS-registered courses are SIT40422 (116358F), SIT50322 (118427D) and SIT50422 (115534C).

Does an older BSB42015 still count?

BSB40520 supersedes BSB42015 and is equivalent to it, so a completed BSB42015 is not devalued by the change.

Does a Certificate III automatically raise pay?

In three of the four awards there is a minimum classification of Level 4 where the employee holds a relevant Certificate III and uses those competencies — MA000009 clause 18.1, MA000119 clause 18.1 and MA000058 clause 18.3. It is not automatic on graduation: MA000009 and MA000119 require you to make use of the skills derived from the competencies, and MA000058 omits "or higher" and adds that the Fair Work Commission may require you to demonstrate that you utilise them. MA000003, the fast food award, has no equivalent provision.

What does Level 4 mean in a restaurant or cafe?

It is a trade grade. MA000119 Schedule A defines Level 4 as "Food and beverage attendant grade 4 (tradesperson)" and "Cook grade 3 (tradesperson)", and the Level 4 rate is that award's standard rate — so a relevant Certificate III used at work reaches a tradesperson grade without an apprenticeship.

If my employer disagrees about my classification, where does it go?

The dispute clause of the award covering the employer — clause 40 under MA000009, clause 34 under MA000119, and referral to the Fair Work Commission under MA000058.

What if I only completed some of the units?

Under clause 2 of MA000009 the "appropriate level of training" test can be satisfied by one or more appropriate units of competency, so a Statement of Attainment for part of a qualification still carries weight.

I have been covering supervisor shifts unpaid at the higher rate. What applies?

Under MA000009 clause 22: two or more hours in a day at a higher classification attracts the higher rate for the whole day; less than two hours, the time worked only. Food and beverage attendants grades 2 and 3 are excluded.

How long can a new starter be kept at Introductory level?

Under MA000009, three months, extendable once by mutual agreement by a further three. Six months is the maximum.

What is the difference between RPL and credit transfer?

RPL (Standard 1.6) assesses evidence of prior skills, learning and experience. Credit transfer (Standard 1.7) recognises prior completion of an equivalent training product, evidenced by AQF certification documentation or an authenticated VET transcript.

My certificate has a different provider name on it. Is it still valid?

Check the issuing RTO code and authenticate the certificate with us. A familiar business name alone does not prove that a document is a valid credential. The business names and historical date ranges below can help you identify the issuer.

What evidence should I be collecting now?

Rosters you wrote, order sheets you signed, dated notes of shifts run above your classification, a position description, and a supervisor who will verify it. Written at the time.

Can I study the Diploma outside Victoria?

Not with us. Both Diplomas are registered for Victoria only on our scope, and since the scope register carries no jurisdiction field, confirm with us directly.

Am I eligible for subsidised training?

In Victoria, Skills First requires Australian citizenship, a permanent visa or New Zealand citizenship, training undertaken while physically present in Victoria or a listed border postcode, and compliance with the volume caps. Check the Victorian Government's eligibility indicator and confirm with the provider.

What does the manager's job legally make me responsible for?

Applying the correct award and classifying employees under its Schedule A — including the Level 4 floor for staff who hold a relevant Certificate III — work health and safety including consultation and incident notification, and the three Standard 3.2.2A food safety tools if the venue has a kitchen. SITXGLC002 and SITXWHS007 are in the Diploma core for that reason.