CPR every year, first aid every three: when your certificate expires

Technically, a first aid or CPR certificate does not expire, because your Statement of Attainment for HLTAID011 Provide First Aid or HLTAID009 Provide CPR has no expiry date. The yearly CPR and three-yearly first aid cycles are recommendations in the first aid codes published by Safe Work Australia and WorkSafe Victoria, although many employers, industries and registration bodies make them compulsory. To find out which renewal you are due for, check the date on your statement and then your employer's policy.

Does a first aid certificate expire?

No. Your Statement of Attainment records that you were assessed as competent in a unit on a particular date, and that record does not lapse. Over time, however, your training can stop counting as current for work purposes.

The units themselves do not set a renewal period either, as both HLTAID011 and HLTAID009 refer you to the work health and safety regulators for refresher requirements.

Being past your renewal date does not prevent you from helping in an emergency. If someone is unresponsive and not breathing normally, call Triple Zero (000) and start CPR, and the call-taker can talk you through it.

Where do the one-year and three-year rules come from?

They come from two workplace first aid codes, and the one that applies depends on where you work.

Every state and territory except Victoria uses the model work health and safety (WHS) laws. In those jurisdictions, Safe Work Australia's Model Code of Practice: First aid in the workplace says that refresher training in CPR should be carried out annually and that first aid qualifications should be renewed every three years.

Victoria has its own Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004. Under it, WorkSafe Victoria's compliance code, First aid in the workplace, uses the same intervals and says that employers need to keep their first aid officers' qualifications current.

Both codes use the word should, which signals a recommendation and stops short of a legal requirement. Even so, following the code is the clearest way for an employer to show that it has met its first aid duties, which is why the intervals often end up in workplace policy.

The one-year figure does not come from the resuscitation guidelines. The Australian and New Zealand Committee on Resuscitation (ANZCOR), which writes them, gives no fixed interval and, if anything, treats a year as a long gap. Its basic life support training guideline says that CPR skills fade within weeks to months and that retraining every 12 to 24 months is likely not enough to keep CPR at a high standard, which is why it suggests short, frequent manikin practice, typically 5 to 15 minutes at a time.

Is refresher training mandatory?

Refresher training is mandatory only when your employer, industry body or regulator makes it a condition, as in the following examples:

• Victoria's Department of Education requires first aid officers in government schools to complete HLTAID011 every three years and a HLTAID009 CPR refresher every year.
• AUSactive, which registers fitness professionals, requires current first aid and CPR, and treats HLTAID011 as valid for three years and HLTAID009 for one year from completion.
• In early childhood education and care, the National Regulations have set currency periods since 1 October 2023, under which an approved first aid qualification counts as current for three years and CPR training for one. The qualification must also be on the approved list kept by the Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA), so check the list before you book.

Your employer's policy or registration standard is the rule you ultimately have to meet, and it can be stricter than the codes.

How do I work out when I am due?

Start with the date on your latest statement and then check it against your employer's rules.

1. Find your most recent Statement of Attainment and note the date for each unit. If it lists HLTAID003 or HLTAID001, the units that HLTAID011 and HLTAID009 replaced in October 2020, it is more than three years old.
2. For first aid, add three years to the date of your last HLTAID011.
3. For CPR, add 12 months to your last HLTAID009 or HLTAID011, whichever is more recent. HLTAID011 counts here because it includes CPR.
4. Check your workplace first aid policy or your registration body's rules, which decide what counts as current in your role.

If you cannot find your statement, the registered training organisation (RTO) that issued it can send you a copy, and we reissue ours free of charge. Your Unique Student Identifier (USI) transcript also lists any nationally recognised training completed since 2015. If you trained with us and agreed to renewal reminders, we will remind you before each renewal is due.

Does HLTAID011 refresh my CPR too?

Yes. Because CPR is part of HLTAID011, the year in which you renew first aid also counts as your CPR refresh.

One of the unit's performance criteria is performing CPR in line with Australian resuscitation guidelines, and its assessment includes the same CPR tasks as HLTAID009: at least two minutes of uninterrupted CPR on an adult manikin on the floor, following the prompts of an automated external defibrillator (AED) to deliver a shock, and two minutes of CPR on an infant manikin.

If your employer's policy names HLTAID009 specifically, check that it accepts HLTAID011 for those years.

Which course should I book?

The answer depends on whether your first aid is still current.

• If your first aid is current and your CPR is due, HLTAID009 Provide CPR is the shorter course.
• If your first aid is due, or you have never completed it, HLTAID011 Provide First Aid also covers your CPR for that year.
• If your role only requires CPR, you will need HLTAID009 each year.

If you need both, that works out as HLTAID011 in year one, HLTAID009 in years two and three, and then HLTAID011 again. If you are unsure which unit your job requires, read HLTAID011 or HLTAID009: which unit do you actually need?

Whichever provider you choose, it makes sense to book the course that falls due first. If you are considering Scope Institute and are organising training for a team, you may like to request a group quote for on-site training anywhere in metropolitan Melbourne.

Sources

• Model Code of Practice: First aid in the workplace – Safe Work Australia
• Compliance code: First aid in the workplace – WorkSafe Victoria
• Guideline 10.1: Basic Life Support (BLS) Training – ANZCOR
• HLTAID011 Provide First Aid – training.gov.au
• First aid qualifications and training – ACECQA
• First Aid for Students and Staff: Staff first aid training – Department of Education, Victoria