Launch Your Hospitality Career With Victoria’s Best Government-Funded Hospitality Training

"Best" is not a claim a training provider can substantiate about itself, so this page does not argue it. What it can do is set out exactly what a first hospitality qualification contains, what it leads to, and whether Victorian government subsidy is likely to apply to you — all of it checkable against the training package, the funding contract and the award library rather than against marketing copy.

Government-subsidised training in Victoria runs through Skills First, and we hold a Victorian VET Funding Contract under it and appear on the published Skills First training providers list. Check that on the state's own list rather than on any provider's website. We have held RTO code 3722 since 1 June 1994, and our current registration period runs from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2032 under the Australian Skills Quality Authority.

The Certificate IV focus of this guide

Our original article centres on SIT40422 Certificate IV in Hospitality for people moving toward supervision. Its nine core units include coaching, rostering and leading people. Those are a different set of responsibilities from serving one table or running one station. The qualification may suit someone aiming at a supervisory role in a restaurant, bar, accommodation or events setting; it is not a promise of a manager's job on graduation. Ask us about the current course delivery, practical assessment, intake and whether any Skills First subsidy applies to your enrolment before treating a 2025 article as a current offer.

The pathway below starts at Certificate III to show how learners often reach that supervisory step. Someone with existing industry experience should also ask about recognition of prior learning and credit transfer rather than automatically repeating foundational training.

Where a hospitality career actually starts

There are two entry qualifications, and they are not the same size or the same shape. This is the comparison that matters most when you are starting out.

The five extra units in SIT30722 are not padding. They are the ones a restaurant actually needs: alcohol service, food safety and taking payment, all mandatory rather than optional. If you know you want restaurant floor work, that is the qualification. If you want to keep accommodation, gaming or kitchen options open, SIT30622 with its nine electives is the more flexible instrument.

Below those sit two Certificate IIs, and they are frequently confused: SIT20322 is Certificate II in Hospitality and SIT20421 is Certificate II in Cookery. Both are current and on scope. Neither is a newer version of the other, so picking the wrong one puts you on the wrong line from day one.

What SIT30622 has in its core

Six units: SITHIND006 Source and use information on the hospitality industry, SITHIND008 Work effectively in hospitality service, SITXCCS014 Provide service to customers, SITXCOM007 Show social and cultural sensitivity, SITXHRM007 Coach others in job skills, SITXWHS005 Participate in safe work practices.

Then one unit from Group A (Hygiene) — either SITHIND005 Use hygienic practices for hospitality service or SITXFSA005 Use hygienic practices for food safety. Then six from Group B (Hospitality), which spans accommodation services, client and customer service, commercial cookery and kitchen operations, food and beverage, food safety and gaming. Then two more from Group B, Group C, elsewhere in the SIT package, or any other current training package or accredited course.

That structure is why two people can both hold SIT30622 and be equipped for very different jobs. Ask which electives a provider actually delivers before you enrol — it is most of the qualification.

What SIT30722 has in its core

Nine units: SITHFAB021 Provide responsible service of alcohol, SITHIND006, SITHIND008, SITXCCS014, SITXCOM007, SITXFIN007 Process financial transactions, SITXFSA005, SITXHRM007 and SITXWHS005. Its electives include SIRXCEG008 Manage disrespectful, aggressive or abusive customers, and the full food and beverage range.

What it leads to next

The ladder above a Certificate III, on our scope:

Three of the nine core units in SIT40422 are HR units — SITXHRM007, SITXHRM008 Roster staff and SITXHRM009 Lead and manage people. That is the qualification that changes your job description rather than your competence at the same job.

The award you will actually be paid under

This matters on your first payslip, and it is decided by the premises, not your job title. There are four awards in play, and three of them carry the classification floor that makes a qualification worth money.

Under MA000009, MA000119 and MA000058, a relevant AQF Certificate III or higher, used at work, sets a minimum classification of Level 4. The fast food award has no equivalent provision. Three details, because this is a pay entitlement rather than a courtesy: MA000009 and MA000119 require you to actually make use of the skills derived from those competencies, so it is not automatic on completion; MA000058 omits the words "or higher" and adds that the Fair Work Commission may require the employee to demonstrate they utilise the relevant skills; and the dispute route differs — clause 40 under MA000009, clause 34 under MA000119, referral to the Fair Work Commission under MA000058.

Two coverage traps. Clubs are not MA000009 — clause 4.4(d)(i) of that award expressly excludes clubs registered or recognised under State or Territory legislation, so 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 members and the community. And night clubs are not MA000058 — a night club is commercial, so it falls under MA000119. A food-court outlet is MA000003; the cafe two doors down with tables is MA000119, because the test is sit-down service rather than the menu.

No pay rates are published here, because award rates re-set every 1 July; use the Fair Work Ombudsman's Pay and Conditions Tool with the correct award code. See working hours, rosters and public holidays and superannuation, tax and payslips.

The limit that catches most people on funding

Government subsidy is not automatic, and it is not for everyone. Whether a course is subsidised for you depends on your circumstances, not on the course.

The three threshold requirements: you must be an Australian citizen, a permanent visa holder or a New Zealand citizen; you must enrol and commence within the contracted window, currently through to 31 December 2026 inclusive; and you must undertake all training and assessment while physically present in Victoria or in a listed border-region postcode. There is no general online or interstate concession for a funded student.

Then the gate that disqualifies most enquiries: if you are 20 or over at the reference date, you must not already hold a qualification higher than Certificate I. Someone with a Diploma or a degree in an unrelated field will generally find a Certificate III is not subsidised for them. The rule is about the level you hold, not its relevance.

There are also volume limits — a maximum of two subsidised AQF qualifications and two subsidised skill sets per calendar year, plus no more than two subsidised programs at once. The count is on commencement, not completion, and a course merely scheduled to start later in the same year already counts. Foundation Skills are excluded. One practical consequence: the count has to be checked live at enrolment rather than reconciled at the end of the year, because the place is used up the moment a later commencement is booked. And because we hold a large number of short, licensing-linked skill sets — RSA, Food Safety Supervision, Food Handling, Espresso Machine Operation — someone stacking short courses reaches the two-skill-set ceiling quickly, often without realising a subsidised place was spent.

If you are eligible, two mechanisms can reduce the fee and neither is discretionary. A concession must be offered to eligible students, capped at no more than 20% of the standard tuition fee. A full fee waiver must be offered to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, Youth Access Initiative students, students from the Judy Lazarus Transition Centre, and young people on community-based orders.

Check your own position against the Victorian Government's own online eligibility indicator — that is the authoritative source — then ask the provider to confirm in writing. Under the contract it is the provider, not the department, that determines eligibility and carries the evidentiary burden, which is why enrolment asks for documents rather than taking your word. Eligibility to enrol and eligibility for subsidy are different questions: you may be able to enrol fee-for-service while being ineligible for a funded place.

If you are still at school, or under 17

This is the clearest illustration of the enrol-versus-subsidy distinction, and it has two separate layers.

Layer one, the subsidy. Under clause 2.11 of the funding contract, a student enrolled in any school — government, non-government, independent or Catholic — is not eligible for a Skills First subsidy unless they are a school-based apprentice or trainee. That is a subsidy rule only. Such a student is not barred from enrolling and paying fees.

Layer two, school attendance. A person under 17 at commencement needs an exemption from school attendance, unless they are a school-based apprentice or trainee or have completed Year 12 or its equivalent. The exemption is specific:

There is a further duty on the provider after enrolment. If an under-17 exemption student stops attending, or completes while still under 17, the provider must notify the Department of Education Regional Office and, where applicable, the student's previous Victorian school. So the exemption is not a one-off piece of paperwork; it creates an ongoing reporting relationship.

Our RSA accepts enrolments from age 15, and a 15-year-old is almost certainly still at school, so that enrolment is fee-for-service.

For the full mechanics, see the deep dive into Victorian funded training.

Victoria only

This is worth stating plainly because we operate in more than one state.

Victoria — we hold a Skills First VET Funding Contract. Subsidised training is available to eligible students.

Outside Victoria, including New South Wales — delivery is fee-for-service. There is no Victorian government subsidy attached.

So a Sydney-based student reading about "government funded hospitality training" should understand that the funding referred to is Victorian. The training is the same; the subsidy is not available.

Delivery is also not uniform, and the scope record carries no state field, so it has to come from the provider: SIT30622, SIT30722, SIT40422, SIT20421 and all the business and community services qualifications are delivered in all eight states and territories; SIT20322 in SA, VIC and WA; SIT30821 Commercial Cookery in SA, TAS, VIC and WA; SIT40521 Kitchen Management in VIC and WA; and both Diplomas in Victoria only.

What is on our scope

Subsidy applies to nationally recognised training, so what is actually available matters. We hold 17 current qualifications, 81 current skill sets and 579 current units, every component at extent deliver and assess — considerably more than the website markets. The unadvertised qualifications include four BSB business qualifications (BSB30120, BSB40120, BSB40520, BSB50120) and three CHC community services qualifications: aged care, individual support, and leisure and health. The skill sets reach wider again, across hospitality, business and cyber, community services, health and infection control, retail, creative arts and horticulture.

One caveat: SIR30216 Certificate III in Retail is on the scope record but passed its end date on 28 June 2024, so it is not an available option.

If what you want is not on the marketed list, ask anyway. See all courses and the workplace training pages.

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.

What happens before you enrol

Enrolment is not the first step. Every learner completes a pre-training review, and the obligation has a named source: Standard 2.2 of the Outcome Standards for RTOs, which requires that "VET students are advised, prior to enrolment, about the suitability of the training product for them, taking into account the student's skills and competencies." Its performance indicators require the RTO to review, before enrolment, a prospective student's skills and competencies including their language, literacy and numeracy proficiency and digital literacy, and to take account of individual requirements including physical skills, prior experience, prerequisites and entry requirements.

Name that instrument when you check it. The National Code 2018 also has a Standard 2.2, but it governs the assessment of an overseas student's English, qualifications or work experience for course entry — a different provision for a different cohort.

Our own conditions, which are not regulatory requirements

Alongside the Standards, we set our own enrolment conditions, and we are the authority on those. The following is our policy, not a rule imposed by a regulator:

ACSF Level 3 is an expectation rather than a barrier: the point of assessing it at application is to identify the support a learner needs, not to screen them out. If your reading, writing or numeracy is a concern, raise it at the pre-training review rather than after the first assessment task.

Questions to ask before enrolling

1. Am I eligible for a subsidised place, given my residency and what I already hold?
2. Does a concession or a full fee waiver apply to me?
3. What is the fee, as an itemised invoice separating tuition, administration and amenities?
4. Is this qualification delivered in my state?
5. Which electives will I actually do? In SIT30622 that is nine of fifteen units.
6. Can recognition of prior learning shorten the course, and how does that affect the fee?
7. What does the work placement require of me in unpaid hours, travel and accommodation?
8. What is not included — materials, uniforms, re-assessment, certificate re-issue?
9. What does the LLN assessment involve, and what support is available if it identifies a need?

RPL is consistently under-used, and it is raised at the pre-training review required by Standard 2.2 of the Outcome Standards for RTOs. See course enquiry or submit an expression of interest.

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.

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.

• SIT30622 Certificate III in Hospitality
• SIT30722 Certificate III in Hospitality (Restaurant Front of House)
• SITXFSA005 Use hygienic practices for food safety
• SIT20322 Certificate II in Hospitality
• SIT20421 Certificate II in Cookery
• Responsible Service of Alcohol training requirements (Victoria)
• Food Safety Supervisor certificate requirements (New South Wales)
• Responsible Service of Gaming (RSG) training requirements (Victoria)
• Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020 (MA000009)
• Restaurant Industry Award 2020 (MA000119)
• Skills First (Victoria) — VET Funding Contract obligations
• National Code of Practice for Providers of Education and Training to Overseas Students 2018 — Standards 1 to 11
• Outcome Standards for Registered Training Organisations 2025 (full text)
• Unique Student Identifier (USI) requirements for RTOs