Top Reasons Employers Love Our Melbourne Bar & Barista Short Course

From a hiring manager's side, a short course is a screening signal rather than a qualification. It answers a small number of practical questions quickly, and understanding which ones tells you what the course is actually worth.

What an employer is actually checking

1. Can this person legally work?

The first question, and often the only one that matters at screening. Without RSA a candidate cannot serve alcohol, so a venue with a shift to fill this weekend will take someone who already holds it.

RSA is a single unit, SITHFAB021 Provide responsible service of alcohol, but it operates under eight separate jurisdictions' rules, and an employer in one state cannot assume a certificate from another will do:

Jurisdiction Interstate certificate accepted? Expiry
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.
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.
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.

Check the destination regulator’s training requirements before moving staff into a regulated role. 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.

One related check worth making explicitly, because candidates sometimes claim it and employers sometimes ask for it: there is no barista licence in Australia. The SITSS00080 Espresso Machine Operation skill set records that no occupational licensing, certification or legislative requirement applies to it. Coffee is the one part of a bar-and-barista role with no state layer at all — which is exactly why the accredited unit is the only portable proof available for it.

And RSA has a second, non-licensing significance an employer planning training should know about: within the food and beverage stream SITHFAB021 is a formal prerequisite to nine units — SITHFAB023, SITHFAB029, SITHFAB030, SITHFAB031, SITHFAB032, SITHFAB033, SITHFAB034, SITHFAB037 and SITHFAB039 — so it gates as many units as the food safety unit does, and leaving it late blocks just as much.

2. Will I have to supervise them constantly?

A venue taking on an untrained person is committing someone else's time. Arriving able to build the classics consistently, texture milk properly and work a point of sale changes that calculation materially.

The accredited units are unusually specific about what "consistently" means, which is exactly why they are useful at screening:

Unit Title What the candidate had to demonstrate
SITHFAB025 Prepare and serve espresso coffee Ten named beverages, each on three occasions — a minimum of 30 preparations — within commercial timeframes, correcting extraction when it drifts. No service-period requirement
SITHFAB024 Prepare and serve non-alcoholic beverages At least six beverages on three occasions each, across three service periods including one peak
SITHFAB030 Prepare and serve cocktails Three service periods; two cocktails by each of six methods — twelve preparations minimum
SITHFAB027 Serve food and beverage Five service periods, including one peak
SITHFAB038 Plan and monitor espresso coffee service Six service periods coordinating an outlet's coffee operation, monitoring eight named quality characteristics
SITHFAB034 Provide table service of food and beverage Twelve service periods, with full menu advice in every one
SITHFAB031 / SITHFAB036 / SITHFAB037 Advice on beers and spirits / food / food and beverage matching Three different customers each, with advice meeting taste and price preferences

The ten espresso beverages are fixed by the unit, not chosen by the provider:

Beverage Beverage
Caffe latte Piccolo latte
Cappuccino Mocha
Espresso (short black) Ristretto
Flat white Short macchiato
Long black Long macchiato

That is a far more useful hiring signal than "experienced barista", because it tells you the person has made every drink on the board — including the piccolo and the ristretto that most self-taught baristas rarely touch — and has been watched doing it at pace.

There is a second signal hidden in that list, and it is the one worth extracting if milk consistency is your actual worry. Only three of the ten are milk-free — espresso, long black and ristretto — so seven require textured milk, each on three occasions. A candidate holding SITHFAB025 has been observed texturing milk 21 times to a consistent standard within commercial timeframes. That is a more specific assurance than anything a resume line can offer, and it is the part of the job most new starters are weak at.

Note also the two rows that differ in kind. SITHFAB025 is the only unit in the stream with no service-period requirement — it counts beverages and occasions instead — while every other row counts shifts. If you are reading a candidate's certificates to work out how much real service exposure they have had, the espresso unit alone does not tell you, and SITHFAB024, SITHFAB027 or SITHFAB038 do.

3. Will they create a compliance problem?

This is the one candidates underestimate. Liquor law in every Australian jurisdiction restricts the service of alcohol to intoxicated patrons, and RSA is the training that deals with refusing service. A manager wants to know a new starter will refuse early, quietly and without negotiating. See responsible service and managing intoxicated patrons.

The food safety side is the quieter half of the same question, and it is widely misunderstood — see below.

4. Can they cover more than one station?

Combined bar-and-barista training is valued because it makes someone rosterable across a cafe morning and a bar evening. For a venue with both, that flexibility is worth more than depth in either. See the benefits of cross-training in the hospitality industry.

One sequencing fact makes cross-training cheaper than it looks. Within the food and beverage stream, SITXFSA005 Use hygienic practices for food safety is the prerequisite for nine units — SITHFAB022, SITHFAB023, SITHFAB024, SITHFAB025, SITHFAB026, SITHFAB027, SITHFAB030, SITHFAB034 and SITHFAB035 — so a staff member who holds it is cleared for most of the beverage and service stream in one step. Keep that figure scoped to the stream, because the same unit also sits in front of cookery, patisserie and kitchen units elsewhere in the SIT package, which would be a different total about a different set of units.

Four units in that stream carry two or more prerequisites. SITHFAB023 Operate a bar and SITHFAB034 Provide table service of food and beverage each carry two, and in both the second is RSA SITHFAB021, which means table service is gated on alcohol competence whether or not your venue is licensed. SITHFAB030 Prepare and serve cocktails carries three, adding SITHFAB023 — so the cocktail unit sits behind the bar unit rather than beside it, which matters when you are planning who is trained in what order. And SITHFAB039 Manage the sale or service of wine carries three of its own in SITHFAB021, SITHFAB032 and SITHFAB033, a four-unit sequence and the longest chain in the stream. SITHFAB038, the senior espresso unit, has no prerequisite at all, and nor do SITHFAB021, SITHFAB028 and SITHFAB036.

5. Is there anyone who can own the coffee programme?

A question employers ask less often than they should, because most barista credentials answer "can this person make coffee" and not "can this person keep the coffee right".

SITHFAB038 Plan and monitor espresso coffee service is the unit for the second question, current on our scope as RTO 3722 at extent "Deliver and assess" to 30 June 2032. Its four elements are the job description of whoever owns the bench:

Element What the candidate was assessed on
1. Plan coffee beverage service Developing coffee beverage menus, selecting suppliers and roasters, liaising with suppliers so quality standards hold
2. Provide specialist advice on espresso coffee beverages Keeping their own knowledge current, answering customer questions, giving accurate information to staff, promoting coffee appreciation
3. Monitor quality of coffee beverages Identifying the characteristics of superior espresso, evaluating bean freshness, monitoring grind and dose consistency
4. Monitor and maintain equipment Monitoring machines for efficiency, monitoring temperature and water pressure, scheduling service calls

Its performance evidence requires the candidate to coordinate an outlet's coffee operation across at least six service periods, maintain commercial grade machines and grinders throughout each, and monitor the consistency and quality of eight named characteristics: appearance including opacity or transparency, aroma, colour, flavour, freshness, presentation, taste and volume.

For a hiring manager that is a materially different signal from SITHFAB025. It says the person has been assessed on supplier selection, on training the people beside them, and on deciding when a machine needs a technician rather than another clean. And because it carries no prerequisite units at all, a long-serving head barista with no certificates can be put through it directly rather than starting at the beginner's unit — which is usually the cheaper way to formalise someone you already rely on.

If what you want is someone who can talk to customers about the product rather than only produce it, the adjacent skill set is SITSS00075 Beverage Advice, and the product-advice units SITHFAB031, SITHFAB036 and SITHFAB037 each require advice to three different customers meeting their taste and price preferences.

What employers cannot tell from a course alone

Speed. Volume under pressure comes from service. The units themselves acknowledge this by counting service periods rather than hours, and by requiring espresso beverages within commercial timeframes. How long that takes an individual depends on the venue, so this page does not publish a figure.

Reliability. Availability and turning up matter more than technique for casual hiring.

Whether the credential is real. Which is why the next section matters.

The distinction that changes the value

Many barista and bar short courses carry no unit code at all. Both kinds teach real skills; only one produces a credential.

Nationally recognised Non-accredited
Built on SITHFAB021 RSA, SITHFAB025 espresso coffee, or the SITSS00080 skill set No code
Produces Statement of Attainment, against the person's USI Certificate of attendance
Credit-transfers Yes, into SIT30622 or SIT30722 No
Verifiable by a third party Yes Only by knowing the provider
Assessed against Published performance and knowledge evidence The provider's own judgement

For an employer, a unit code is checkable. That is the practical difference.

Check which code, too. SITHFAB025 is the espresso unit. SITHFAB024 covers teas, juices, smoothies, milkshakes, mocktails, frappés, hot and iced chocolate, carbonated drinks and non-espresso coffees. Both are useful in a cafe; only one evidences espresso competence.

And be alert to the vocabulary on a resume. "Barista master class" is a delivery format, not a credential, and there is no unit code for it. Latte art is not an accredited unit and is not separately assessed even inside SITHFAB025. Coffee appreciation is not an accredited unit. None of those should be read as a qualification.

For nationally recognised training, a Unique Student Identifier (USI) is generally required before a qualification or Statement of Attainment can be issued, unless an applicable exemption applies. See the official USI exemption guidance. A USI is free at usi.gov.au. If you already have one, recover it rather than creating another. We check the issuing RTO and the unit codes when verifying a credential; a USI request alone does not establish whether a provider is legitimate.

Verify the code, not the brand

One practical trap when you are checking a certificate. An RTO can hold several registered business names, so the name printed at the top is a weaker signal than the RTO code beside it.

The Australian Business Register records seven current registered business names for the legal entity COMPLETE HOSPITALITY TRAINING (VIC.) PTY. LTD., ABN 27 006 947 262: Complete Hospitality Training, THE COFFEE SCHOOL, Coffee School by CHT, Melbourne Barista, Victorian Bar School, Ready Serve Achieve Melbourne and Alchemy Institute of Australia. Three of those are coffee names and one is a bar name, which is precisely the set a bar-and-barista candidate might present.

So a certificate reading "The Coffee School" or "Victorian Bar School" is an RTO 3722 credential. An unfamiliar name is not evidence of a problem, and a familiar one is not evidence of legitimacy. Check 3722 on training.gov.au. (Separately, the training.gov.au organisation record carries a retired trading name, Complete Healthcare Training, which ran 24 October 2023 to 19 April 2025 — a certificate in that name is also an RTO 3722 credential.)

The espresso prerequisite, and why it is an employer's business

SITHFAB025 carries SITXFSA005 Use hygienic practices for food safety as a prerequisite, completed before the espresso unit. That means a genuine accredited barista also holds the hygiene unit, which is convenient: SITXFSA005 requires correct hand-washing, appropriate use of uniform and personal protective equipment, effective personal health and hygiene practices, and hygienic food service, each demonstrated on at least three occasions.

The SITSS00080 Espresso Machine Operation skill set bundles the four things a cafe actually needs: SITHFAB025, SITXCCS014 Provide service to customers, SITXFIN007 Process financial transactions and SITXFSA005. A candidate holding that skill set has been assessed on coffee, service, the till and hygiene. Its target group is espresso machine operators in cafes, restaurants, bars, clubs, and function and event venues, and achievement provides credit towards SIT Training Package qualifications — so it is a step toward a Certificate III rather than a dead end.

The service unit inside it is worth reading closely, because its volume is a hiring signal in its own right. SITXCCS014 requires the candidate to have provided quality service to three different internal customers and three different external customers, applied procedures to resolve three different customer complaints, used effective communication with at least one customer with special needs, delivered service within designated response times, and sought both formal and informal feedback. Half of that is internal — meaning the kitchen, the bar and the next shift — which is the part most venue inductions never touch. A candidate assessed on it has been observed handling a complaint three times, not told what to say once.

Food safety: what is actually required, and what is not

Bar and cafe staff handle ice, fruit, milk and garnishes, which makes them food handlers. A venue that makes and serves unpackaged food that is both potentially hazardous and ready to eat is a category one business under Standard 3.2.2A, in force since 8 December 2023.

Three points that employers get wrong more often than any others on this subject:

  1. Food handler training does not have to be nationally accredited. A free, non-accredited course covering safe food handling, food contamination, cleaning and sanitising, and personal hygiene satisfies the Standard. The alternative to completed training is possessing skills and knowledge commensurate with the activity — not being supervised by someone who has done the training. That framing predates the current Standard.
  2. There is no mandated refresher period for food handler training, and the business is not required to keep records of it. The five-year cycle belongs to the separate Food Safety Supervisor certificate, and the FSS must be appointed before the business engages in a prescribed activity and remain reasonably available — on site or easily contactable.
  3. The substantiation records duty is about food safety controls, not staff training. Category one businesses must keep records covering matters such as receipt at 5 °C or below or 60 °C or above, temperature-controlled storage, display and transport, cooling and reheating within specified timeframes, and cleaning and sanitising of food-contact surfaces. Those are kept for three months and must be accessible at the premises.

So what does the accredited unit buy an employer? Portability and proof, not permission — and, because a prerequisite can only be satisfied by the unit itself, the accredited version is also the only route into the nine stream units that list SITXFSA005. A unit code is verifiable; an internal induction record is only as good as your own paperwork. See food handling, virtual food handling SITXFSA005, food safety supervisor and understanding Standard 3.2.2A.

One question this page does not answer: what a venue's allergen and milk cross-contact duties are for coffee service. No duty is stated here because the material behind this page does not address it, and a guessed allergen rule on a compliance page would be worse than a gap. Separate jugs and proper cleaning for a dairy allergy is sound practice; for the obligation itself, ask your state or territory food regulator or local council.

The award question, which is an employer problem before it is a staff one

Training staff has a pay consequence, and the first thing to get right is which modern award covers your venue at all. The rule is that the premises decides, not the job title. Four awards divide the field, each covering its industry to the exclusion of the others, so exactly one applies to you:

Award Code Premises Level 4 floor for a Cert III?
Hospitality Industry (General) MA000009 Hotels, pubs, taverns, motels, resorts, casinos, caterers, accommodation Yes
Registered and Licensed Clubs MA000058 Not-for-profit registered clubs — RSL, bowls, golf, sporting, community Yes
Restaurant Industry MA000119 Standalone restaurants and cafes, night clubs, reception centres, roadhouses Yes
Fast Food Industry MA000003 Takeaway and food-court outlets, food sold mainly to be eaten away from the counter No

Two boundaries are misread often enough to be worth stating plainly.

Clubs are not covered by the hospitality award. Clause 4.4(d)(i) of MA000009 expressly excludes clubs registered or recognised under State or Territory legislation — clubs are the one industry it carves out by name. A club sits under MA000058, and only if it is both registered under a liquor, gaming, associations or corporations statute and established and operating on a not-for-profit basis for the benefit of members and the community. A commercially owned venue that trades under the word "club" is not a club for award purposes.

Night clubs are not covered by the clubs award. A night club is commercial, so it sits in MA000119 with restaurants and cafes.

For a coffee operation, the split between MA000119 and MA000003 turns on sit-down service, not the menu: a food-court counter is fast food, the cafe with tables is not.

The classification consequence of training your own staff

This is the part to budget for. Under MA000009, MA000119 and MA000058, a relevant AQF Certificate III or higher, used at work, sets a minimum classification of Level 4. Under MA000003, the fast food award, there is no equivalent provision.

Three of the four, in other words. If your venue is a hotel, a restaurant, a cafe, a night club or a registered club, training a staff member into a Certificate III that they then use on the floor engages the Level 4 floor. If you run a food-court outlet, it does not. It is a cost better planned than discovered, and the same training decision has different consequences across a group that operates both formats.

One boundary that works in an employer's favour and is worth knowing precisely: the floor attaches to a qualification, not to a unit or a skill set. Putting a staff member through SITHFAB025, or through the whole SITSS00080 skill set, does not by itself engage clause 18.1. It is completing a relevant Certificate III and using it at work that does.

The detail matters, because this is a pay entitlement:

No pay rates appear here. Award rates re-set each 1 July, so take current figures from the Fair Work Ombudsman's Pay and Conditions Tool using your venue's award code. See working hours, rosters and public holidays.

If you are the employer

Training a whole team is a different conversation from individual enrolment — see work with us or lodge an expression of interest. Trained staff waste less stock, produce a consistent product, and reduce the supervision load through a rush.

If you want in-house capability rather than repeat bookings, look at SITXHRM007 Coach others in job skills — a core unit of SIT30622, SIT30722 and SIT40422. SITHFAB038 element 2 makes the same point inside the coffee stream, by requiring the candidate to give accurate information to staff. See SIT30622 and how to create an effective training plan for your hospitality business.

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. The legal entity is COMPLETE HOSPITALITY TRAINING (VIC.) PTY. LTD., ABN 27 006 947 262, ACN 006 947 262.

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 short course guarantee a job?

No. It removes the screening obstacles, which is a different and still useful thing.

What do employers check first?

RSA, and whether it is valid in the state where the venue operates.

Is an interstate RSA certificate acceptable?

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 (/rsa/), NSW’s rules (https://www.nsw.gov.au/business-and-economy/liquor-and-gaming/training/rsa-bridging) and SA’s rules (https://www.cbs.sa.gov.au/sections/LGL/RSA-approved-providers).

What extra step applies to Victorian RSA?

After the unit: the Liquor Control Victoria Learning Hub pre-training survey, the SHARPR module and a post-training survey. The provider must also be LCV-approved for the delivery mode used.

Is any course "OLGR-approved" or "DLGSC-approved"?

No. Queensland and Western Australia operate no approved-provider register, so those descriptions refer to a scheme that does not exist.

Does a barista need a licence?

No. The SITSS00080 Espresso Machine Operation skill set records that no occupational licensing, certification or legislative requirement applies to it. Coffee has no state scheme anywhere in Australia.

Is non-accredited training worthless to an employer?

No, but it is not verifiable in the same way and it does not credit-transfer.

Which barista unit should I look for on a resume?

SITHFAB025 Prepare and serve espresso coffee, or the SITSS00080 Espresso Machine Operation skill set. For a senior role, SITHFAB038 Plan and monitor espresso coffee service.

What does SITHFAB025 tell me the candidate has done?

Prepared ten named espresso beverages, each on three separate occasions — thirty preparations minimum — within commercial timeframes, adjusting and correcting extraction when quality drifted.

How do I know they can actually texture milk?

Seven of the ten assessed beverages require textured milk, so a candidate holding SITHFAB025 has been observed texturing milk 21 times to a consistent standard at service pace. That is the most specific assurance available on the point.

Which units tell me how much real service exposure someone has had?

The ones counted in service periods: SITHFAB024 (three including a peak), SITHFAB027 (five), SITHFAB038 (six) and SITHFAB034 (twelve). SITHFAB025 sets no service-period requirement, so the espresso unit alone does not answer that question.

What should I look for if I need someone to own the coffee programme?

SITHFAB038. It assesses developing coffee menus, selecting suppliers and roasters, informing staff, monitoring eight named quality characteristics and scheduling service calls, across at least six service periods. It has no prerequisites, so an experienced head barista can be assessed in it directly.

What does the service unit in the espresso skill set actually assess?

SITXCCS014 requires quality service to three different internal and three different external customers, resolution of three different customer complaints, effective communication with at least one customer with special needs, service within designated response times, and both formal and informal feedback collection.

Is a "barista master class" a qualification I should credit?

No. It is a delivery format with no unit code behind it. Read it as training attended, not a credential held.

The certificate says "The Coffee School" rather than CHT. Is that a problem?

No. THE COFFEE SCHOOL, Coffee School by CHT, Melbourne Barista and Victorian Bar School are all current registered business names of the same legal entity on the Australian Business Register, and training under them is delivered by RTO 3722. Verify the code rather than the name.

Does an accredited barista also hold food safety training?

Usually yes, because SITXFSA005 is a prerequisite for SITHFAB025. Within the food and beverage stream that unit gates nine units in all — SITHFAB022, SITHFAB023, SITHFAB024, SITHFAB025, SITHFAB026, SITHFAB027, SITHFAB030, SITHFAB034 and SITHFAB035 — so it is worth confirming on any candidate you intend to cross-train. RSA SITHFAB021 opens nine of its own in the same stream: SITHFAB023, SITHFAB029, SITHFAB030, SITHFAB031, SITHFAB032, SITHFAB033, SITHFAB034, SITHFAB037 and SITHFAB039. Four units carry two or more prerequisites — SITHFAB023 and SITHFAB034 carry two, SITHFAB030 and SITHFAB039 carry three — so those are the ones to schedule last.

Which award covers my venue?

It is decided by the premises: MA000009 for hotels, pubs, taverns, resorts, casinos and caterers; MA000058 for not-for-profit registered clubs; MA000119 for standalone restaurants, cafes and night clubs; MA000003 for takeaway and food-court outlets.

We are a club — do we sit under the hospitality award?

No. MA000009 clause 4.4(d)(i) expressly excludes clubs registered or recognised under State or Territory legislation. A registered not-for-profit club sits under MA000058.

We run a night club — is that the clubs award?

No. A night club is commercial rather than not-for-profit, so it sits under MA000119.

Will training staff into a Certificate III change what we must pay them?

Under MA000009, MA000119 and MA000058, yes: a relevant AQF Certificate III or higher used at work sets a minimum classification of Level 4. Under MA000003, the fast food award, there is no equivalent provision. So the consequence depends on which award covers the venue.

Does a short course or skill set trigger that floor?

No. The floor attaches to a qualification. SITHFAB025 or the SITSS00080 skill set on their own do not engage clause 18.1.

Is that floor automatic on completion?

No. MA000009 and MA000119 require the employee to make use of the skills and knowledge derived from the Certificate III competencies in the work undertaken, and MA000058 allows the Fair Work Commission to require the employee to demonstrate that they utilise the relevant skills.

Do I have to keep records of my staff's food handler training?

No. Standard 3.2.2A does not require the business to keep records of food handler training, and mandates no refresher period. The three-month record-keeping duty applies to substantiation records about food safety controls, and only for category one businesses.

Does food handler training have to be accredited?

No. A free non-accredited course covering the four required topics satisfies the Standard. Accreditation buys portability and proof — and it is the only thing that satisfies the prerequisite on the nine stream units.

Do I still need a Food Safety Supervisor?

If the business engages in a prescribed activity, yes — appointed beforehand, reasonably available, holding a certificate issued within the preceding five years.

Can I arrange training for a whole team on site?

Yes. Start at contact (/contact/).

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