SIT30622 Certificate III in Hospitality

We deliver this course through workplace (traineeship). Our official course page lists a duration of 12 – 24 months. These are our delivery arrangements for this course; the qualification and unit comparisons below explain the national requirements. Check the official course page for current intake and enrolment details.

View our official course details and booking information. Course details checked 2 October 2026.

Course background and related accredited requirements

SIT30622 is a fifteen-unit Certificate III from the SIT Tourism, Travel and Hospitality Training Package — six core units and nine electives. It is the general hospitality qualification: broad enough to suit front of house, bar, cafe or accommodation work, and deliberately less specialised than its restaurant-focused sibling.

It supersedes SIT30616, and the two are recorded as not equivalent. This page covers the structure, the elective grouping rules, the supersession position, what the qualification is worth under the hospitality awards, and how it differs from SIT30722.

At a glance

What the training package says the qualification is for

The register describes SIT30622 as reflecting the role of people with well-developed hospitality service, sales or operational skills and sound knowledge of industry operations, who use discretion and judgement, work with some independence and under supervision, and work to plans, policies and procedures. The qualification allows for multiskilling and for specialisation in accommodation services, food and beverage and gaming — which is precisely what the six Group B electives described below are doing. The pathways named are restaurants, hotels and motels, clubs and pubs, and cafes and coffee shops.

Structure and packaging rules

Fifteen units must be completed: six core and nine elective. The nine electives are tightly governed:

• 1 unit from Group A — Hygiene
• 6 units from Group B — Hospitality
• 2 units from Group B, Group C, elsewhere in the SIT Training Package, or any other current training package or accredited course

So thirteen of the fifteen units — six core, one Group A, six Group B — are drawn from defined lists. Only the final two are genuinely open. Anyone comparing providers should understand that the bulk of this qualification is fixed by the training package, not by the RTO.

The selection of electives must be guided by the job outcome sought, local industry requirements, and the complexity of skills appropriate to the AQF level.

The six core units

Two things stand out. First, SITHFAB021 Provide responsible service of alcohol is not core here. It is core in SIT30722. If RSA matters for the job you want, either choose it as an elective or consider the restaurant front of house qualification instead.

Second, SITXHRM007 Coach others in job skills appears at Certificate III. Even at this level the qualification expects a person to be able to bring a colleague up to speed, which is a meaningful part of how hospitality teams actually run.

Group A is hygiene, and it is compulsory

The packaging rules require one unit from Group A, and Group A contains exactly two:

• SITHIND005 Use hygienic practices for hospitality service
• SITXFSA005 Use hygienic practices for food safety

This is worth being precise about, because it modifies the "food safety is not core" point above. Food safety is not a core unit of SIT30622 — but since Group A is compulsory and contains only these two, every SIT30622 graduate holds a hygiene unit.

If you want the food safety one specifically, choose SITXFSA005. It is the unit that satisfies the food handler training obligation under Standard 3.2.2A of the Food Standards Code, and it is the prerequisite behind several of the food preparation electives below. Choosing SITHIND005 instead leaves you needing SITXFSA005 separately if you later want those electives or a food handler credential. See food handling.

Group B is where the qualification takes its shape

Six of the nine electives come from Group B, which spans six service areas:

Those six choices are what make two graduates of the same qualification suited to quite different jobs — a hotel front office and a gaming floor are both reachable from here. Group C, which can supply the final two electives, is smaller and general: workplace calculations, communication and teamwork, environmental sustainability, financial records, first aid, inventory, and languages other than English.

Units with prerequisites

Several electives carry prerequisites and must be sequenced accordingly. These include SITHCCC024 Prepare and present simple dishes, SITHCCC025 Prepare and present sandwiches, SITHCCC026 Package prepared foodstuffs, SITHCCC028 Prepare appetisers and salads, SITHFAB022 Clean and tidy bar areas, and SIRXOSM003 Use social media and online tools.

The food preparation units typically require SITXFSA005 first — which is the practical reason to take it at Group A rather than SITHIND005. Check individual unit requirements before finalising an elective set, because a prerequisite discovered late can delay completion.

Or take a skill set instead

If fifteen units is more than your situation needs, we hold 81 current skill sets — 22 of them in the SIT hospitality package — and most are not advertised as courses. Several overlap directly with SIT30622's electives: SITSS00078 Customer Service, SITSS00070 Hospitality Compliance, SITSS00071 Responsible service of alcohol, SITSS00080 Espresso Machine Operation, SITSS00069 Food Safety Supervision, SITSS00086 Housekeeping Service.

A skill set is assessed the same way as any other unit and recorded against your USI, and its units credit-transfer into the full qualification later under Standard 1.7. Starting with one is not a detour. The full list is on all courses.

What this qualification is worth under the award

This is the most financially consequential thing on the page, and it is rarely explained anywhere.

Three of the four awards covering hospitality premises carry the same provision. An employee has the appropriate level of training if they have completed a relevant qualification or the relevant units of competency — and the note attached to that definition sets a floor:

The minimum classification level for an employee who has completed AQF Certificate III or higher qualifications relevant to the classification in which they are employed and who makes use of skills and knowledge derived from Certificate III competencies relevant to the work undertaken is Level 4.

SIT30622 is an AQF Certificate III. So completing it, and using those skills at work, is direct evidence of a Level 4 classification floor in a pub, a restaurant or a registered club. That is the single clearest answer to "what is this qualification actually worth to me", and it is why a nationally recognised credential differs from in-house training however well delivered: the certificate is evidence, the induction is not.

Level 4 is the tradesperson grade

This is the part worth understanding properly. Under MA000119, the Level 4 classification is defined as Food and beverage attendant grade 4 (tradesperson) and Cook grade 3 (tradesperson) — and the award's own "standard rate" is defined as the Level 4 rate.

So a Certificate III relevant to your work, actually used at work, is an explicit route to a tradesperson grade without serving an apprenticeship. That is not a loophole; it is how the award is written, and it is the strongest financial argument for finishing a qualification rather than collecting units informally.

Three caveats worth stating

It is not automatic on completion. Under MA000009 and MA000119 the qualification must be relevant to the classification you are employed in and you must make use of the skills. A certificate in a drawer does not move your classification.

MA000058 is worded slightly differently. The clubs award states the floor for "AQF Certificate III qualifications" without the "or higher", and adds that the Fair Work Commission may require the employee to demonstrate that they utilise the relevant skills.

Disputes go to different places. A Level 4 entitlement dispute goes to clause 40 of MA000009, clause 34 of MA000119, or for MA000058 may be referred to the Fair Work Commission for determination.

Which award covers you: four, not two

Which award applies is decided by the nature of the premises, not by job title. Each covers its industry "to the exclusion of any other modern award", so exactly one applies to a given venue.

Two boundaries are commonly got wrong. A registered club is not covered by MA000009 — clause 4.4(d)(i) expressly excludes "clubs registered or recognised under State or Territory legislation", and clause 4.3 of MA000058 requires the club to be registered under a liquor, gaming, associations incorporation or corporations statute and to operate not-for-profit for its members and the community. And a night club is not a club for award purposes, being commercial: that is MA000119.

The practical upshot for a Certificate III holder: the Level 4 argument works in a pub, a restaurant, a cafe and a registered club, and does not work in a food court or takeaway outlet, because MA000003 has no equivalent provision. Two people doing identical work can sit under different instruments because their venues differ.

No pay rates are published here. Award rates re-set every 1 July and a stale figure is worse than none — use the Fair Work Ombudsman's Pay and Conditions Tool with your award code.

If you are doing it as a traineeship

Certificate III is the level at which most hospitality traineeships sit, and the award writes part of the arrangement:

• A full-time traineeship is 38 ordinary hours per week, of which 20 per cent must be approved training
• A trainee is entitled to be released from work without loss of pay to attend training and assessment specified in the training contract, and that time counts as time worked
• For apprentices, wage progression is competency-based. Once the employer has written advice that the RTO has assessed the apprentice as meeting the requirements, the employer has 21 days to raise a disagreement; if none is raised, progression follows

That 20 per cent is not something to be fitted around a busy week, and an employer who sits on a competency assessment past 21 days is accruing an underpayment rather than delaying a formality.

One consequence for the paperwork: because progression is tied to training-plan milestones, the training plan has to map units to those milestones or the employer cannot administer wage progression at all. It is a wage instrument as much as an education document.

The SIT30616 supersession

SIT30622 supersedes SIT30616 Certificate III in Hospitality, dated 9 June 2022, and the two are recorded as not equivalent.

Non-equivalence means that holding SIT30616 is not automatically treated as holding SIT30622. The content changed enough that the National Register does not deem them interchangeable. Someone holding the older qualification who needs the current one should expect a credit transfer and recognition of prior learning assessment. Many completed units will still count, but it is an assessment rather than an automatic upgrade.

Those are two different processes and it helps to use the right name. Credit transfer, under Standard 1.7 of the Outcome Standards, recognises units you have already completed at any RTO — your Statement of Attainment is the evidence and there is no reassessment. Recognition of prior learning, under Standard 1.6, assesses prior skills, learning and experience against the unit's own evidence requirements. Moving from SIT30616 to SIT30622 typically uses both. We first verify the evidence and equivalence, check that the units fit your training product, and check for licensing or regulatory restrictions before granting credit. See ASQA’s credit-transfer guidance.

Note that the equivalence flag is set qualification by qualification. SIT30821 and SIT40521 are equivalent to their predecessors; this one is not. Check rather than assume.

SIT30616 is superseded and is not on our scope of registration. If you see it advertised with a current fee, check the code on training.gov.au before enrolling.

SIT30622 or SIT30722: which Certificate III?

We hold both hospitality Certificate III qualifications. They are different qualifications with different job outcomes, not two names for the same thing.

SIT30622 is the broader, shorter qualification. It suits someone who wants a general hospitality credential and flexibility about where they work — cafe, bar, accommodation, function work.

SIT30722 is five units longer and much more prescribed. Its nine core units embed responsible service of alcohol, food safety hygiene and financial transaction processing, which are precisely the things a restaurant floor role requires. If the intended job is restaurant service, it is the better fit and carries the licensing-relevant unit as core.

Both sit at AQF 3, so both engage the Level 4 classification floor described above.

Entry requirements

The training package sets no prerequisite qualification for entry to SIT30622. That is true across the hospitality qualifications in the SIT package.

We apply our own enrolment conditions:

• Learners must be 16 years of age or over at course commencement
• Learners under 17 need documentation relating to school attendance exemption or transition from school, depending on whether Year 10 is complete
• Language, literacy and numeracy skills at or around Australian Core Skills Framework (ACSF) Level 3
• Apprenticeship and traineeship learners must be employed under a training contract and referred by their employer

All learners complete a pre-training review, which is required under the Standards for RTOs. It confirms the qualification suits the learner, identifies credit transfer and recognition of prior learning opportunities, and establishes support needs. Recognition of prior learning is consistently under-used — if you have been doing hospitality work without the credential, that is exactly the evidence worth putting forward.

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.

Duration, licensing and the certificate

Three questions sit outside the packaging rules and are asked more often than any of them: how long fifteen units should take, whether the qualification is a licence, and when the certificate actually arrives.

Volume of learning: one to two years

The Australian Qualifications Framework sets an indicative volume of learning for a Certificate III of one to two years. That figure is independent of delivery mode — it is not a count of classroom hours, and it applies whether the qualification is delivered on campus, in a workplace, online or in a traineeship. The governing test is that the volume of learning must be sufficient for graduates to achieve the learning outcomes of the qualification.

ASQA names two compliance risks that bear directly on this. The first is accelerating or shortening training without allowing students sufficient time for skill development and knowledge application. The second is marketing unrealistically short courses, which either compromises the integrity of the training product or leaves the student paying for an extension. Fifteen units with a compulsory hygiene unit, six Group B service units and several prerequisite chains is what the one-to-two-year band is describing; an offer promising the whole qualification in a few weeks is describing a compliance problem, not an efficiency.

No licence attaches to SIT30622

No licensing, legislative or certification requirements apply to this qualification at the time of publication. SIT30622 is a qualification, not a permit. Completing it does not license you to do anything, and no liquor, gaming or food regulator issues, approves or endorses the qualification itself.

That does not make the law irrelevant. The skills in the qualification must be applied in accordance with Commonwealth and state or territory legislation, Australian standards and industry codes of practice, and those obligations sit on the workplace and the worker regardless of what the certificate says.

The distinction matters most because licensing-linked units sit inside the elective lists. SITHFAB021 Provide responsible service of alcohol is a Group B elective here, and RSA is a jurisdictional licensing requirement for serving alcohol, recognised by each state or territory liquor regulator rather than by the training package. SITXFSA005 Use hygienic practices for food safety speaks to the food handler training obligation under the Food Standards Code. In both cases it is the unit, not the qualification, that carries the regulatory weight — and holding SIT30622 without SITHFAB021 does not permit you to serve alcohol anywhere.

When the certificate is issued, and what is on it

An RTO must not issue AQF certification documentation unless the person has been assessed as meeting the requirements of the training product. Once that assessment is complete, it must issue within 30 calendar days of completion of the assessment, provided the student has completed the qualification — or the units they subsequently withdrew from — and has paid all agreed fees. The thirty days runs from the assessment, not from the end of a term or the next graduation date.

The testamur must carry the name, registration code and logo of the issuing organisation; the code and title of the qualification; the Nationally Recognised Training logo, used in accordance with the NRT Logo Conditions of Use; the signature of an authorised individual; a seal, corporate identifier or unique watermark; and a statement recognising the qualification within the Australian Qualifications Framework. Where they apply it also carries the industry descriptor, an occupational or functional stream title in brackets, an "Achieved through Australian Apprenticeship arrangements" statement, or a language notation.

One thing must not appear. The Unique Student Identifier must not be printed on a qualification or a statement of attainment. A certificate arriving with a USI on its face is a defective document, not a thorough one.

Partial completion produces a statement of attainment instead, which must list the full title and national code of each unit achieved and identify the qualification those units form part of.

And the record keeps. An RTO must retain records of all AQF certification documentation for thirty years — which is why a replacement SIT30622 certificate is obtainable decades later, and why a document issued under one of our earlier trading names is still verifiable against RTO 3722.

Delivery and funding

SIT30622 is on our national scope as deliver and assess and, according to our current delivery information, is available in all states and territories: ACT, NSW, NT, QLD, SA, TAS, VIC and WA.

Not all of our hospitality qualifications carry that reach. SIT30821 Certificate III in Commercial Cookery is limited to SA, TAS, VIC and WA, and the diplomas are Victoria only.

Funding differs by state. We hold a Victorian Skills First VET Funding Contract as TOID 3722, and in Victoria the provider determines a learner's subsidy eligibility and holds the evidence for that determination. Delivery in New South Wales is fee-for-service and unsubsidised. Subsidised is not free — a student contribution generally applies, sometimes at a concession rate.

Where it leads

The usual progression is SIT40422 Certificate IV in Hospitality, which moves into supervision — rostering, budgets, conflict management and work health and safety — and then SIT50422 Diploma of Hospitality Management at AQF 5, which is our ceiling.

For someone whose interest is the kitchen rather than the floor, SIT30821 Certificate III in Commercial Cookery is the parallel route. For someone who may want out of hospitality later, BSB40520 Certificate IV in Leadership and Management is the more portable next step.

About us

We are Complete Hospitality Training, RTO 3722, CRICOS 04242E, Level 3, 28 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne VIC 3000, and 410 Elizabeth Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010. Contact melbourne@cht.edu.au or +61 3 9654 1554. See about us and all courses.

SIT30622 is on our national scope of registration as deliver and assess and, according to our current delivery information, is available in all states and territories. Completing it produces a nationally recognised qualification; partial completion produces a Statement of Attainment for the units achieved.

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.