What a CPR refresher actually is
A CPR refresher is HLTAID009 Provide CPR, done again. There is no shorter renewal unit in the training package and no reduced version of the qualification. Providers call it a refresher because most people in the room have done it before, not because it is a cut-down course. You sit the same nationally recognised unit, you are assessed to the same standard, and you receive the same statement of attainment.
Best First Aid Training delivers HLTAID009 at four Western Sydney branches: Parramatta, Penrith, Blacktown and Liverpool.
Who needs to refresh CPR every year
- Workplace first aiders — first aid runs three years, CPR runs one.
- Educators in education and care services — in childcare this is a regulation, not a recommendation. CPR training must have been completed within the previous year to be taken as current.
- Aged care, disability and NDIS workers whose employer or funding body writes an annual CPR requirement into its own policy.
- Anyone holding HLTAID011 or HLTAID012 whose certificate is still inside its three years but whose CPR component passed twelve months ago.
The full breakdown of currency periods is in our guide on how often you need to renew a first aid certificate.
Your first aid certificate has not expired — your CPR might have
Currency applies to each unit of competency separately, even when several units are printed on the same certificate. A statement of attainment issued two years ago showing HLTAID011 can still be current for the first aid unit while the CPR unit on the same page expired a year earlier.
If you keep a staff register, record unit codes rather than course names. Course names vary between providers; unit codes do not.
If your CPR has already lapsed
Nothing extra is required. There is no penalty, no bridging step and no old certificate to produce — you enrol in HLTAID009 again, the same as anyone else.
The only real cost of a lapse is operational. If you are a named first aider, the period while your CPR sits expired is a gap in your workplace or service coverage.
What you are assessed on
HLTAID009 is assessed practically. The published assessment requirements for the unit include:
- At least two minutes of uninterrupted single-rescuer CPR — five cycles of compressions and ventilations — on an adult resuscitation manikin placed on the floor
- At least two minutes of uninterrupted single-rescuer CPR on an infant resuscitation manikin placed on a firm surface
- Following the prompts of an automated external defibrillator to deliver at least one shock
- Recognising an unconscious casualty who is not breathing normally, working through the DRSABCD action plan
Kneeling on the floor for a sustained period is part of that assessment, so wear clothing you can move in. If you have an injury or condition that affects kneeling or sustained compressions, tell us when you book and we will talk through the options with you.
Before you come
- A USI. Nationally recognised training needs a Unique Student Identifier. It is free and takes a few minutes — see what a USI is and how to create one.
- Online pre-learning. The CPR course includes approximately one hour of online learning to complete before your face-to-face session. Login details are emailed after you enrol.
- Clothing you can kneel in.
Everything else — handbooks, RPL, transfers and refunds — is on our student information page.
Where we run CPR refreshers
Not sure which refresher you need?
If your role needs first aid as well as CPR, the unit you refresh is HLTAID011 rather than HLTAID009 — see our first aid refresher course page. If you work in education and care, it is HLTAID012. Our guide on which course you need walks through all of them, and the booking mistake that makes people pay twice.
Book your CPR refresher
See course options and branches on our HLTAID009 CPR course page, or get in touch and we will help you work out what you need.
Sources: training.gov.au, HLTAID009 Provide Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation assessment requirements; ACECQA, First aid qualifications & training.
