Childcare first aid requirements: what the National Regulations actually say
Education and care services are covered by the Education and Care Services National Regulations. The first aid requirements sit in regulation 136, and they are more specific than most onboarding checklists suggest.
Who has to be on site
For centre-based services, under regulation 136(1), the approved provider must ensure the following people are “in attendance at all times at any place children are being educated and cared for by the service and immediately available in an emergency”:
- at least one staff member or one nominated supervisor who holds a current approved first aid qualification
- at least one who has undertaken current approved anaphylaxis management training
- at least one who has undertaken current approved emergency asthma management training
One staff member may hold one or more of these.
Two points get missed. The first is “at all times” — this is a rostering requirement, not a headcount. A service with ten trained educators can still be non-compliant on the shift where none of them is on the floor. The second is “immediately available in an emergency”, which rules out someone who is on site but off-duty or unreachable.
School based services and family day care services are covered separately under regulations 136(2) and 136(3), and the requirements differ. Check the ACECQA guidance for your service type rather than assuming the centre-based rule applies.
How long the training stays current
Since 1 October 2023 the National Regulations prescribe currency periods. A qualification is taken to be current if it was attained within the previous three years — except emergency life support and cardio-pulmonary resuscitation training, which must have been completed within the previous year.
The sentence that matters most for compliance registers: currency periods apply to each individual unit of competency, even where several units appear on one certificate. A statement of attainment for HLTAID012 issued two years ago is still current for the first aid unit while the CPR unit on the same piece of paper expired a year ago.
If your register tracks certificate expiry dates rather than unit expiry dates, it will tell you that you are compliant when you are not. More on the two cycles in our guide to how often to renew a first aid certificate.
Which unit to book
HLTAID012 Provide First Aid in an Education and Care Setting is the unit built for this environment. It includes the content of the general workplace first aid unit plus material specific to infants and children.
ACECQA publishes a list of approved first aid qualifications, anaphylaxis management training and emergency asthma management training. If you are unsure whether training someone already holds is approved, check it against that list before counting it toward regulation 136.
Running a compliant roster
- Record unit codes, not course names. Course names vary between providers; unit codes do not.
- Keep two dates per person — one year for CPR, three years for everything else.
- Check coverage by shift, including early starts, late finishes and excursions.
- Book before expiry, not after. A lapsed certificate is a gap in coverage, not a paperwork issue.
Training for education and care services
Best First Aid Training delivers HLTAID012 childcare first aid at our Parramatta, Penrith, Blacktown and Liverpool branches, with evening and weekend options so services do not lose a day of coverage. We also deliver group and onsite training at your own service.
Source: ACECQA, First aid qualifications & training, summarising Education and Care Services National Regulations reg 136.
