How to Create an Effective Training Plan for Your Hospitality Business

A training plan for a venue is a different document from a training plan for a registered training organisation, and confusing the two is the most common way these go wrong. A venue is not an RTO. It has no obligations under the Outcome Standards for RTOs. What it does have are licensing preconditions, work health and safety duties, and — if it employs apprentices or trainees — obligations written directly into the modern award.

That last category is the one that surprises people. For an apprentice or trainee, the training plan is not an HR document. It is a wage instrument, and getting it wrong produces an underpayment.

Turn the plan into a sequence a person can follow

Our original business training guide starts before day one: assess the role's tasks and the new employee's existing skills during hiring, then introduce venue-specific procedures during onboarding. Give each skill a trainer, practice opportunity and realistic review date. An experienced colleague can demonstrate the work, watch it being repeated and give feedback; a line manager should check when the employee can perform it independently. Do not unload every procedure in one first-day briefing.

Use external training when a recognised credential or specialist instruction is needed, and check the provider and unit before booking. Review the plan as service demands and the employee's responsibilities change. The compliance gates, skills matrix and record-keeping below turn that practical sequence into evidence a venue can use.

Start from what is legally required

Some training is not a development choice. It is a condition of operating.

Requirement	What it attaches to	When
Responsible Service of Alcohol	Every individual serving alcohol	Before their first shift
Food handler training	Every food handler	Before engaging in a prescribed activity
Food Safety Supervisor	Category one and category two food businesses	Appointed before the business engages in a prescribed activity
General industry safety induction	Every worker	Before commencing work
Site-specific safety induction	Every worker	Day one

RSA is one unit, SITHFAB021, under eight jurisdictional regimes.

Jurisdiction	Interstate certificate accepted	Expiry
Queensland	Accepted where the evidence is a Statement of Attainment for the nationally accredited Provide Responsible Service of Alcohol course. An attendance certificate is insufficient.	Valid RSA training generally has no expiry; training completed before 2002 must be replaced.
Western Australia	Provide the RSA certificate showing completion of the nationally accredited course. An interstate RSA card alone is not accepted as evidence.	Keep the RSA certificate as training evidence; approved-manager cards have separate renewal requirements.
Victoria	Use a current Victorian RSA certificate. Eligible interstate holders can apply for free bridging: approved original training within three years, with the online-course residence condition. Specific exemptions apply at qualifying producer events.	Victorian RSA Refresher every three years.
New South Wales	Eligible temporary interstate workers can use approved interstate RSA. Permanent movers and security or RSA marshal roles must meet NSW training and competency-card requirements; eligible holders can use bridging instead of the full NSW RSA course.	NSW competency card: five years. Interstate concessions have separate eligibility and certificate-age requirements.
South Australia	Check provider approval and training date. Training from 1 November 2020 must be through a Commissioner-approved RTO. Earlier RSA training need not be repeated solely because of that approval change.	No routine RSA renewal period stated in the cited CBS guidance; check applicable licence conditions.
Northern Territory	Certificates from an RTO registered to deliver RSA are accepted, including interstate certificates. Check certificate age and the NT refresher requirements.	NT guidance gives a three-year limit for interstate certificates and directs holders to a refresher; check current renewal guidance.
Australian Capital Territory	Valid interstate RSA certificates are recognised, subject to the ACT’s three-year currency limit and ACT-approved refresher requirements.	Three years from course completion, then an ACT-approved refresher.
Tasmania	Interstate certificates can be accepted under the Commissioner’s conditions. Requirements differ for employees and liquor licence holders; check the appropriate role.	No RSA expiry date in the regulator’s FAQ; an employer may request updated training.

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

For a new Victorian RSA course, use an LCV-approved provider for the delivery mode and complete the required LCV Learning Hub surveys and sexual harassment and assault module as well as the national unit. Victorian certificate holders must complete the free RSA Refresher every three years. 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. Queensland and Western Australia accept suitable national RSA training evidence from an RTO. This is subject to the correct credential: Queensland requires a Statement of Attainment for the national RSA course, and WA requires the RSA certificate rather than an interstate card alone. Check the Queensland requirements and WA requirements.

Victorian RSG is free approved training: online modules through RSG Online and venue-arranged sessions with venue support workers. National SITHGAM training does not replace it. See the official training requirements and our RSG guide.

Food safety. Under Standard 3.2.2A, which commenced 8 December 2023, the requirements split three ways, and over-specifying them wastes money.

Tool	Applies to	Accredited training required	Refresher	Records
Food handler training	Category one and two	No	None mandated	Not required
Food Safety Supervisor	Category one and two	Certificate from an RTO or recognised organisation	Complete course every 5 years	Appointment evidence
Substantiation records	Category one only	—	—	Kept 3 months, accessible at the premises

Food handler training must cover four topics — safe handling of food, food contamination, cleaning and sanitising of premises and equipment, and personal hygiene — or the person must hold skills and knowledge commensurate with the activity. A free non-accredited course satisfies the law. The accredited unit SITXFSA005 buys portability and documentary proof, not permission. The five-year clock belongs to the Food Safety Supervisor certificate only, and the certificate must have been issued within the immediately preceding five years, with the supervisor remaining reasonably available — on site or easily contacted, for instance by phone.

Category one covers any operation that processes unpackaged potentially hazardous food into food that is both potentially hazardous and ready to eat, so essentially any venue with a kitchen. Category two is retail sale of ready-to-eat potentially hazardous food the business did not make, where slicing, weighing, repacking, reheating and hot-holding do not count as making it.

For food safety in New South Wales the certificate must come from a provider approved by the NSW Food Authority under section 106H of the Food Act 2003 (NSW), and we are not on that list. NSW issues two documents, the national Statement of Attainment and the FSS certificate; keeping only the Statement of Attainment does not satisfy section 106G.

Work health and safety. In Victoria the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 places the duty on the employer, with the primary duty at section 21, administered by WorkSafe Victoria. Most other states and territories use the harmonised Work Health and Safety framework and the term PCBU — in New South Wales, the Work Health and Safety Act 2011, primary duty at section 19(1), administered by SafeWork NSW, with an additional duty at section 46 to consult, cooperate and coordinate with other duty holders. Both require information, instruction, training and supervision. A multi-state operator maintains two sets of wording, not one.

SITXWHS007 Implement and monitor work health and safety practices, core in SIT40422 and SIT50422, sets out what a WHS training plan is expected to do: identify training needs, coordinate the training, and monitor training effectiveness — not merely record attendance.

Everything above goes in the plan first, with expiry dates against each name. Everything else is optional and can be sequenced.

The induction half of the plan, and what a placement adds

The two inductions in the table above are not one document split in two, and both belong in the plan with a named owner.

A general industry safety induction covering hospitality hazards has to happen before the person commences work. A site-specific induction on day one then covers the particular venue: emergency and evacuation procedures, the location of the first aid kit, the plant and equipment in that kitchen, chemical storage, and that site's own hazards. Hazard-specific training follows as needed, and all of it is reviewed and updated as conditions change rather than written once and filed.

If the venue hosts a learner on placement, the duties split between the RTO and the host, and the plan should say which side owns each:

Duty	Owner
General safety induction before the placement, with evidence kept	The RTO
Site-specific induction on day one, with written confirmation given	The host venue
Monitoring the placement, and recording the monitoring	The RTO
The tasks the learner may and may not perform	Specified in the placement agreement

A Placement Agreement must be completed before the placement commences, covering supervision, workplace conduct and learning outcomes. It should also specify the tasks the learner may and may not perform, the host's induction, and the monitoring schedule.

Three placement routes exist, and which one applies changes the paperwork: a vocational placement arranged by the RTO under its agreements with host providers, for learners not in paid hospitality employment; a self-arranged vocational placement, also for learners not in paid employment; and a work placement where the learner is already in paid employment. All three require the Placement Agreement before the placement starts.

Build a skills matrix, not a wish list

List the tasks the venue actually needs covered — open, close, run a section, handle a complaint, cash up, receive a delivery, operate the coffee machine, complete the temperature log — and mark who can do each one now. The gaps are the plan. This takes an afternoon and replaces most of what a generic training program would guess at.

Two columns matter more than the rest: who is the only person who can do this, and what expires when.

The matrix has a second use. SITXHRM008 Roster staff, core in SIT40422 and SIT50422, requires rostering teams with a complementary skills mix and consulting colleagues for input, then evaluating the roster's effectiveness in consultation with colleagues. Without a matrix, none of that is possible. The most common finding of such a review is that someone was trained on a section and then never rostered to it.

For countable sign-off standards, borrow the accredited benchmarks: SITHFAB027 requires five service periods including at least one peak; SITHFAB034 twelve service periods with full menu advice in every one; SITHFAB030 three service periods and two cocktails by each of six methods, so twelve preparations minimum; SITHFAB025 ten specified beverages on three occasions each; SITXFSA005 correct hand-washing, PPE and uniform use, personal health and hygiene practices and hygienic food service each on at least three occasions; and SITXFSA006 hazard control at nine critical control points plus temperature probe calibration.

If you employ apprentices or trainees, the award writes part of the plan for you

This is the part venues most often miss, and it is the part with money attached.

Trainees: the 20 per cent rule

A full-time traineeship is 38 ordinary hours per week with 20 per cent of those hours being approved training. A part-time traineeship is fewer than 38 hours per week, again with 20 per cent approved training, which may be delivered wholly on the job, partly on and partly off, or wholly off the job.

A trainee is entitled to be released from work without loss of pay and without loss of continuity of employment to attend any training and assessment specified in, or associated with, the training contract, and that time counts as time worked — the right sits at Schedule E clause E.5.2 of the Miscellaneous Award 2020. School-based traineeships have their own variations. It is not something to be fitted around a busy week.

The delivery mode then changes the lawful hourly rate under the National Training Wage, which is the detail that catches employers:

How approved training is delivered	Rate applied to each ordinary hour worked
Wholly off the job by an RTO	The table rate
Wholly on the job, or partly on and partly off	The table rate minus 20 per cent

So a statement in the RTO's training plan that training is workplace-based rather than wholly off the job moves the employer from the full table rate to the reduced calculation. The clause is E.4.2(f). The training plan is, in that sense, a pay document. Read what it says about delivery mode before you set up payroll.

Three further details in the same schedule matter for a hospitality employer.

Wage level. The schedule runs three wage levels, A, B and C. Tourism, Hospitality and Events qualifications at Certificate I to III sit at wage level A, the highest of the three. A Certificate IV traineeship at wage level A is the relevant Certificate III rate increased by 3.8 per cent.

Conversion, and the protection that goes with it. On conversion between qualification levels the trainee moves to the next highest minimum wage in the schedule, and that move has to be made when the conversion happens rather than at the next pay review — failing to progress the rate on conversion is one of the named causes of underpayment. Separately, an employee already employed by that employer immediately before becoming a trainee must not suffer a reduction in minimum pay.

School-based trainees may agree to a 25 per cent loading instead of paid annual leave, paid personal or carer's leave and paid public holiday absence, under clause E.5.1. It is optional and requires the trainee's agreement. It is not something an employer applies by default.

Apprentices: competency-based progression and the 21-day window

Apprentice wage progression is competency-based, and the RTO's assessment drives it. An apprentice moves to the next wage stage when state or territory and training package requirements are met, and either:

the RTO, the employer and the apprentice agree the requirements have been met; or
the employer has been given written advice that the RTO has assessed the apprentice as meeting the requirements for all relevant units, and the employer has not advised the RTO and the apprentice of any disagreement within 21 days of receiving that advice.

Silence for 21 days is deemed agreement. The higher rate then becomes payable from the first full pay period on or after the date agreement or determination is reached. An employer who files the RTO's letter and does nothing is not delaying a formality; they are accruing an underpayment.

Where apprenticeship legislation allows competency-based progression and the training contract does not say otherwise, apprentices indentured after 23 January 2020 progress by stage rather than by year, against proportions of the total competencies in the training plan:

Stage	Entry requirement (four-year nominal term)	Wage percentage
1	On commencement	55%
2	25% of total competencies in the training plan for the AQF Certificate III, or 12 months, whichever is earlier	65%
3	50% of competencies, or 12 months after Stage 2, whichever is earlier	80%
4	75% of competencies, or 12 months after Stage 3, whichever is earlier	95%

Those percentages are applied to the award's standard rate, which in MA000009 is the Level 4 rate — Cook (tradesperson) grade 3. That is why a Level 4 classification error propagates to every apprentice in the kitchen. Junior apprentices in trades other than waiting follow first year 55 per cent, second 65, third 80, fourth 95. An adult apprentice who commenced on or after 1 January 2014 receives, in year one, the greater of 80 per cent of the standard weekly rate or the ordinary first-year rate, and an existing employee who becomes an adult apprentice with the same employer must not suffer a rate reduction, provided they had 6 months full-time or 12 months part-time or regular casual service beforehand.

The practical consequence: the training plan must map units to the 25, 50 and 75 per cent progression milestones. If it does not, the employer cannot administer wage progression correctly, however willing they are. Ask the RTO for a plan that shows the mapping, and check it does.

If the employer disagrees with the RTO's competency assessment, the matter may be referred to the state or territory apprenticeship authority — the VRQA in Victoria, Training Services NSW in New South Wales — and otherwise to the award's dispute resolution clause. Both the employer and the apprentice have rights of referral.

What the award obliges the employer to do while the apprentice trains

Three sets of duties sit alongside the wage stages, and all three belong in the plan with a name against them.

Release and reimbursement, clause 12.7 of MA000009 and MA000119. Under 12.7(a) the employer must release the apprentice to attend training or assessment without loss of pay or continuity of employment. Under 12.7(b) that time counts as time worked. Under 12.7(c) to (e) the employer must reimburse the apprentice for all fees paid to an RTO for required courses and for required textbooks the employer did not supply, due by the later of 6 months after the apprenticeship starts, 6 months after the relevant stage, or 3 months after the RTO's training starts, subject to satisfactory progress. That is a budget line rather than a goodwill gesture, and its due date is calculable from the training plan itself.

Under-18 apprentices. MA000009 clause 12.5 provides that the employer must not require overtime or shiftwork of an apprentice under 18, although the apprentice may voluntarily agree, with exceptions only in emergencies. MA000119 clauses 12.5 and 12.6 go further: overtime cannot be required, and except in an emergency neither overtime nor shiftwork may be required if it would prevent attendance at training under the training agreement. The roster has to be built around the training calendar, which is the practical reason the training plan and the roster are one conversation rather than two.

School-based apprentices, Schedule D. Paid off-the-job training time may be calculated as 25 per cent of the actual hours worked each week on the job; wages for training time may be averaged over the semester or the year; the maximum duration is 6 years; and progression is either 12 months' wage progression for each 2 years of employment, or competency-based. On conversion to full time, completed competencies and time served both count.

Rates themselves are not reproduced here. Use the Fair Work Ombudsman's Pay and Conditions Tool.

New South Wales training contracts carry extra obligations

NSW imposes heavier requirements on the RTO's training plan. It must be developed using the Training Plan proforma issued by Training Services, support competency-based progression and competency-based completion, be regularly updated to reflect changes to formal and workplace training, be updated at least every six months, and be developed within 12 weeks of Training Services approving the Training Contract.

For an employer, the useful takeaway is that a NSW training plan more than six months old is out of compliance, and that is visible on the document.

How to judge whether the provider is credible

A venue choosing an RTO is choosing the thing that will drive its apprentices' wage progression and its staff's classification. Two parts of the Outcome Standards for RTOs let an employer test a provider without becoming an expert in the system.

Who is allowed to make an assessment judgement. Standard 3.2 requires training and assessment to be delivered by credentialled people with current skills and knowledge in training and assessment, and the accompanying Credential Policy specifies which credentials satisfy it. To deliver training and assessment without direction, including making assessment judgements, a person must hold one of:

TAE40122 Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, or its successor
TAE40116
TAE40110
a diploma or higher in adult education or VET
a secondary teaching qualification plus one of TAESS00011, TAESS00019 (or successor) or TAESS00024 VET Delivered to School Students Teacher Enhancement Skill Set (or successor)

Assessment only adds TAESS00001. For validation, at least one validator must hold one of those validation credentials. A person with relevant credentials may work under direction: they may deliver training and contribute to assessment, conducting assessment and collecting evidence under supervision, but they may not make assessment judgements. Assessment judgements are quality assured through regular validation of assessment practices and judgements.

Standard 3.3 adds the industry side. Everyone delivering or assessing must have industry competencies, skills and knowledge relevant to and current in the training product, must demonstrate current industry practice, and must maintain engagement with industry, and the RTO must ensure continuing professional development and facilitate access to it. For a hospitality employer that is a fair question to ask directly: when was the trainer last working in a kitchen or behind a bar.

What the assessment itself has to satisfy. There are four Principles of Assessment:

Principle	What it requires
Fairness	Accommodates the student's needs, allows reasonable adjustment, and allows reassessment where necessary
Flexibility	Appropriate to the context, the training product and the student, and assesses skills regardless of how or where they were acquired
Validity	Includes practical application components, so the student demonstrates in a practical setting
Reliability	Evidence is interpreted consistently, and outcomes are comparable irrespective of the assessor

And four Rules of Evidence: Validity, the evidence is adequate for reasonable assurance of the skills and knowledge in the training product; Sufficiency, its quality, quantity and relevance enable an informed judgement; Authenticity, it is the original and genuine work of that student; and Currency, it documents and demonstrates current skills and knowledge.

Read together those give an employer two usable tests. A provider offering assessment with no practical component is not satisfying the validity principle, and a provider willing to assess a cook without observing them cook is not collecting sufficient evidence. Both are worth raising before the training plan is signed rather than after a graduate turns out to be unable to run a section.

Sequence and record it

Train on quiet shifts, not during service. SITXHRM007 Coach others in job skills — core in SIT30622, SIT30722, SIT30821 and SIT40422 — requires coaching to be delivered within commercial time constraints and names "inappropriate circumstances for coaching" and "insufficient opportunity to practise" among the problems a coach must identify and address. A plan that only works on a quiet Tuesday and never gets one is not a plan.

The unit's six-step method is the training design: explanation, demonstration, review, listening to the trainee's explanation, observing and evaluating their demonstration, then feedback.

Record what each person has actually been signed off on, because an undocumented capability is one that disappears when the person who knew about it leaves. Review the matrix each quarter and after every departure. Keep incident and near-miss records a minimum of five years, and remember Victoria requires a written record within 48 hours.

Plan the classification alongside the training

One consequence to settle before enrolling anyone. Coverage is decided by the premises, not the job title, and there are four destinations: MA000009 Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020 for hotels, pubs, taverns, motels, resorts, casinos and caterers; MA000058 Registered and Licensed Clubs Award 2020 for not-for-profit registered clubs, which MA000009 clause 4.4(d)(i) expressly excludes; MA000119 Restaurant Industry Award 2020 for standalone restaurants, cafes, night clubs, reception centres and roadhouses; and MA000003 Fast Food Industry Award 2010 for takeaway and food-court outlets. A night club sits in MA000119 rather than MA000058, because it is commercial rather than not-for-profit.

The Certificate III classification floor exists in three of those four. Under MA000009 and MA000119 (both clause 18.1, adult rates) and MA000058 (clause 18.3), a relevant AQF Certificate III or higher used at work sets a minimum classification of Level 4. The fast food award, MA000003, has no equivalent provision.

Award	Clause	The test	Dispute route
MA000009	cl 18.1	Certificate III or higher, and the employee makes use of those competencies at work	cl 40
MA000119	cl 18.1	Identical wording to MA000009	cl 34
MA000058	cl 18.3	"AQF Certificate III qualifications" — no "or higher"; the Fair Work Commission may require the employee to demonstrate they utilise the relevant skills	Referral to the Fair Work Commission
MA000003	—	No equivalent provision	—

So training an experienced but uncredentialed employee raises their award entitlement in three of the four awards. That is not an argument against training them; it is an argument for budgeting the classification move at the same time. Note the "makes use of" limb under MA000009 and MA000119: the floor attaches to the work, so the training plan and the roster have to agree with each other.

Note also that the Introductory level in MA000009 and MA000119 is capped at three months, extendable by mutual agreement for up to a further three, and is meant to be spent on training and competency assessment — so a training plan is what justifies holding anyone there at all.

The employer also has to make the award and the National Employment Standards available to all employees, on a noticeboard or by accessible electronic means, under MA000009 clause 3.3. A link alongside the training plan satisfies it.

Where recognition of prior learning fits

For an established workforce, RPL is the biggest single lever and belongs in the plan explicitly. Registered training organisations must offer it under Standard 1.6, it is raised at the pre-training review under Standard 2.2 as an assessment for that individual learner, and it is a genuine assessment against the same evidence requirements as classroom delivery, not a waiver.

Credit transfer, Standard 1.7, is the other half and gets confused with it. The duties to offer it and to decide fairly, consistently and in a way that maintains the integrity of the training product are the same, but the evidence is prior completion of an equivalent training product, demonstrated by AQF certification documentation or an authenticated VET transcript, with no reassessment unless licensing or regulatory requirements prevent it. A worker who already holds Australian units is a credit-transfer case, not an RPL case.

On a large qualification the effect is significant: SIT40521 Certificate IV in Kitchen Management is 33 units with 27 core, and an experienced chef may already hold a substantial proportion. The amount is determined per learner, so no honest figure can be quoted in advance, but a well-kept skills matrix is exactly the evidence an RPL assessment wants.

Where the gap is narrower than a whole qualification, a skill set may be the right instrument. Our scope of registration carries 17 current qualifications, 81 current skill sets and 579 current units, every component at an extent of "deliver and assess" — considerably more than any marketed course list shows. Ask for the unit or skill set by code.

For nationally recognised training, a 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. It is free; recover an existing USI rather than creating another.

For nationally recognised units delivered on site, see Certificate III in Hospitality, the restaurant front-of-house stream, Certificate III in Commercial Cookery, Certificate IV in Hospitality, Certificate IV in Kitchen Management, Certificate III in Business, Food Safety Supervisor, food handling and RSA. Send a course enquiry or an expression of interest, or begin with a skills assessment.

About us

We are Complete Hospitality Training, RTO 3722, CRICOS 04242E. Registered since 1 June 1994, with our current registration period running to 30 June 2032 under the Australian Skills Quality Authority. 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. Confirm current course, scope and fee arrangements directly.

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.

Does a venue need a formal training plan?

Not as a general legal document, but it does need to demonstrate that legally required training is current, and apprentices and trainees have training plans under their training contracts.

Does training time have to be paid?

For trainees attending training specified in, or associated with, the training contract, yes. They are released without loss of pay and without loss of continuity of employment under Schedule E clause E.5.2 of the Miscellaneous Award 2020, and the time counts as time worked. Apprentices have the equivalent right at clause 12.7(a) and (b) of MA000009 and MA000119.

How much of a traineeship is training?

20 per cent of ordinary hours. A full-time traineeship is 38 ordinary hours per week with 20 per cent being approved training; a part-time traineeship is fewer hours with the same proportion.

Does it matter where the trainee's training is delivered?

Yes, for pay. If approved training is delivered wholly off the job by an RTO, the National Training Wage table rate applies to each ordinary hour worked. If it is wholly on the job, or partly on and partly off, the table rate minus 20 per cent applies, under clause E.4.2(f).

Which wage level do hospitality traineeships sit at?

Wage level A, the highest of the schedule's three levels, for Tourism, Hospitality and Events qualifications at Certificate I to III. A Certificate IV traineeship at wage level A is the relevant Certificate III rate increased by 3.8 per cent.

Does a trainee who moves up a qualification level get a higher rate?

Yes. On conversion between qualification levels the trainee moves to the next highest minimum wage in the schedule, and the move is due when the conversion happens. Failing to make it is one of the named causes of underpayment. An employee already employed by that employer immediately before becoming a trainee must also not suffer a reduction in minimum pay.

Who pays an apprentice's course fees and textbooks?

The employer reimburses them. Under clause 12.7(c) to (e) of MA000009 and MA000119 the employer must reimburse the apprentice for all fees paid to an RTO for required courses and for required textbooks the employer did not supply, by the later of 6 months after the apprenticeship starts, 6 months after the relevant stage, or 3 months after the RTO's training starts, subject to satisfactory progress.

Can we roster an apprentice under 18 onto overtime or a night shift?

Not as a requirement. MA000009 clause 12.5 says the employer must not require overtime or shiftwork of an apprentice under 18, though the apprentice may voluntarily agree, with exceptions only in emergencies. MA000119 clauses 12.5 and 12.6 add that except in an emergency neither may be required if it would prevent attendance at training under the training agreement.

Who decides when an apprentice progresses?

Competency assessment by the RTO drives it. Progression follows either tripartite agreement, or the employer failing to advise disagreement within 21 days of receiving the RTO's written advice.

What happens if we ignore the RTO's competency advice?

Silence for 21 days is deemed agreement, and the higher rate becomes payable from the first full pay period on or after agreement is reached. Ignoring the letter accrues an underpayment rather than avoiding one.

What are the apprentice progression milestones?

For apprentices indentured after 23 January 2020 where competency-based progression applies, stage entry is tied to 25 per cent, 50 per cent and 75 per cent of the total competencies in the training plan, with wage percentages of 55, 65, 80 and 95 per cent across the four stages.

What should we check in an RTO's training plan?

That it maps units to the 25, 50 and 75 per cent progression milestones, and what it says about delivery mode. Both determine what the employer must pay.

Who is allowed to make an assessment judgement?

Only someone credentialled to deliver training and assessment without direction: TAE40122 (or successor), TAE40116, TAE40110, a diploma or higher in adult education or VET, or a secondary teaching qualification plus TAESS00011, TAESS00019 (or successor) or TAESS00024. Assessment-only work adds TAESS00001. A person under direction may deliver training and help conduct assessment and collect evidence, but may not make assessment judgements. Judgements are quality assured through regular validation, and at least one validator must hold a validation credential.

What are the Principles of Assessment and the Rules of Evidence?

The four principles are Fairness (needs accommodated, reasonable adjustment, reassessment where necessary), Flexibility (appropriate to context, product and student, and assesses skills however acquired), Validity (includes practical application components) and Reliability (evidence interpreted consistently, outcomes comparable irrespective of assessor). The four rules of evidence are Validity, Sufficiency, Authenticity and Currency. A provider assessing a cook without observing them cook is not meeting the validity principle or the sufficiency rule.

Should we ask about the trainer's own industry currency?

Yes, and Standard 3.3 is the reason. Anyone delivering or assessing must have industry competencies, skills and knowledge relevant to and current in the training product, demonstrate current industry practice, and maintain engagement with industry, with the RTO ensuring continuing professional development.

How often must a NSW training plan be updated?

At least every six months, and it must be developed within 12 weeks of Training Services approving the Training Contract, using the Training Plan proforma issued by Training Services.

What does the plan need to say about a work placement?

Who owns each duty. The RTO delivers the general safety induction before the placement and keeps the evidence, and monitors the placement and records the monitoring. The host delivers the site-specific induction on day one and gives written confirmation. A Placement Agreement must be completed before the placement commences, covering supervision, workplace conduct, learning outcomes, the tasks the learner may and may not perform, and the monitoring schedule.

Can a new hire with an interstate RSA start on a Victorian bar shift?

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 (https://www.vic.gov.au/rsa-training) before relying on a certificate.

Which award should the training plan be built against?

Whichever of the four covers the premises: MA000009, MA000058 for not-for-profit registered clubs, MA000119 for standalone restaurants, cafes and night clubs, or MA000003 for takeaway and food courts. Each carries its own classification structure.

Does completing a qualification change what we pay?

In three of the four awards, yes. Under MA000009, MA000119 and MA000058 a relevant AQF Certificate III or higher used at work sets a minimum classification of Level 4. MA000003 has no equivalent provision.

Is that Level 4 floor automatic on completion?

Not under MA000009 or MA000119, which require the employee to make use of the skills and knowledge derived from those competencies. MA000058 omits "or higher" from its wording and allows the Fair Work Commission to require the employee to demonstrate they utilise the relevant skills.

What is the difference between RPL and credit transfer?

The evidence. RPL under Standard 1.6 assesses evidence of prior skills, learning and experience. Credit transfer under Standard 1.7 relies on prior completion of an equivalent training product, shown by AQF certification documentation or an authenticated VET transcript, with no reassessment unless licensing or regulatory requirements prevent it. Both must be offered and both are raised at the pre-training review.

Does food handler training have to be accredited, or repeated?

No to both. Standard 3.2.2A requires the four topics to be covered, or skills and knowledge commensurate with the activity, and mandates no refresher period and no record-keeping. The five-year cycle belongs to the Food Safety Supervisor certificate.

Can you issue a NSW Food Safety Supervisor certificate?

No. We are not on the NSW Food Authority's approved provider list. We can deliver the underlying nationally recognised units.

Is a venue bound by the RTO Standards?

No. Those bind registered training organisations. Complete Hospitality Training, RTO 3722, is bound by them. A venue training its own staff is governed by employment, food safety, liquor and work health and safety law instead.

Can training be delivered at the venue?

Yes, where the units suit workplace delivery. We deliver nationally recognised training on site as well as in classrooms, across 17 current qualifications and 81 current skill sets; confirm which are on our national scope and currently delivered in your state.