First aid training, unit by unit
Nationally recognised first aid training is built on units of competency, each filed under a code such as HLTAID009, and a Statement of Attainment from a Registered Training Organisation (RTO) records the unit.
This register follows those units: what each covers, how long the training is treated as current and on whose word, how to check who trains you, and what the workplace codes ask of a first aider. It is a guide published by Dotto from the official sources listed at the foot of each page.
- Filed under
- The register index
- Checked
- 8 October 2026
General information, not medical or legal advice. Call Triple Zero (000) in an emergency, or go to the emergency department of your nearest hospital. The unit documents are on training.gov.au, and ASQA is the national regulator for vocational training.
The register
- 01Which unit is which
HLTAID009 for CPR, HLTAID012 for education and care settings, HLTAID014 for advanced first aid, and Provide First Aid, the model Code’s minimum for a workplace first aider. HLTAID009 · 012 · 014
- 02How long a certificate lasts
The model Code’s yearly CPR refresher and three-yearly renewal, and whose recommendation each figure is.1 year · 3 years
- 03Checking a training provider
What a provider must tell you when you enrol, and where your records are kept afterwards. RTO · ASQA · USI
- 04First aid training at work
The model Code of Practice and the state codes on a first aider’s training, read side by side. Model Code · state codes
- 05What the course teaches
Nine criteria all three units share, and a selection of the rest.Performance criteria
Nationally recognised training
As a minimum, Safe Work Australia’s model Code of Practice says a workplace first aider should hold a nationally recognised Statement of Attainment, from an RTO, for the endorsed unit Provide First Aid, or have done a course giving equivalent skills.
“The Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) is the national regulator for Australia’s vocational education and training (VET) sector.”
“There are three VET regulators. Most training providers are regulated by ASQA.”
ASQA, Student records
ASQA’s page on student records also explains what it means when a former provider cannot be found: “If your former training provider is not listed on the national register, it is possible that the organisation was not an RTO and the training was not nationally recognised.”
Entry 03, checking a training provider, follows that thread through to your records.
The units in this register
- HLTAID009
The skills and knowledge to perform CPR in line with the Australian Resuscitation Council’s guidelines, for anyone who may need to give CPR, at work or in the community.
- HLTAID012
First aid written for workers in education and care settings, asthma and anaphylaxis emergencies included.
- HLTAID014
An advanced first aid response, for anyone who may be called on to give one, in the community or at work.
- Provide First Aid
The unit the model Code names as the minimum for a workplace first aider. Its unit document is on training.gov.au.
Entry 01 sets the units side by side, and Entry 05 reads their performance criteria.
Courses and learners
healthdirect describes CPR as a skill everyone can learn, and says CPR courses are run for individuals, families, workplaces and community groups.
NSW Health’s cardiac arrest fact sheet puts the case for keeping skills fresh in one line: “It is important that first aid skills are up to date.” The same fact sheet says that “Resuscitation using the steps DRSABCD should be followed for cardiac arrest and is taught in all first aid courses in Australia.”
For the DRSABCD steps themselves, follow healthdirect’s page on how to perform CPR, or read the Australian Resuscitation Council’s guideline on CPR.