Childcare First Aid Training in South Australia: Is Your Team Up to Date?

5 days ago

4 min read

Your educators have completed their First Aid training. Their certificates are on file. But are you confident everyone knows what to do when an emergency happens?

A child starts choking during morning tea. Another experiences a severe allergic reaction. A toddler has a seizure in the playground.

These are situations no educator wants to face, but they're exactly why First Aid training matters.

For childcare centres and early learning services across South Australia, keeping First Aid qualifications current is an important responsibility. But there's more to it than checking expiry dates.

It's about ensuring staff have the knowledge, practical skills and confidence to respond when it matters.

What First Aid training is required in South Australian childcare centres?

Under Regulation 136 of the Education and Care Services National Regulations, approved education and care services must ensure appropriately trained staff are available during operating hours.

For centre-based services, this generally means having at least one staff member or nominated supervisor in attendance and immediately available in an emergency who holds each of the following:

A current approved First Aid qualification.
Current approved anaphylaxis management training.
Current approved emergency asthma management training.

One person may hold all three. However, services need to consider staffing arrangements, breaks, leave and excursions to ensure the requirements continue to be met.

Family day care has different requirements, with educators and educator assistants required to hold current approved training in all three areas.

In South Australia, the Education Standards Board is the regulatory authority, while ACECQA provides national guidance on approved qualifications and training requirements.

HLTAID012: First Aid for childcare and early learning

HLTAID012 – Provide First Aid in an education and care setting is designed for people working with infants and children.

It covers a range of emergencies educators may encounter, including:

Adult, child and infant CPR.
Choking and airway emergencies.
Asthma and anaphylaxis.
Seizures and other medical emergencies.
Bleeding, injuries and other First Aid situations.

HLTAID012 is recognised by ACECQA as an approved qualification covering First Aid, asthma and anaphylaxis.

For childcare centres and early learning services, it's a practical option for educators who need to complete or renew their approved First Aid training.

How often should childcare First Aid and CPR training be renewed?

This is one of the most common questions we receive.

Under the National Quality Framework, the following currency periods apply:

Training	Currency period
Approved First Aid qualification	3 years
CPR	12 months
Approved anaphylaxis management training	3 years
Approved emergency asthma management training	3 years

It's worth checking the individual training dates on staff certificates, as different components may have different currency periods.

Keeping a staff training register and planning refresher dates ahead of time can help avoid last-minute gaps in staffing arrangements.

Annual CPR refreshers: More than just CPR

CPR skills need regular practice, particularly when educators may be responding to emergencies involving infants and young children.

At Safe Hands SA, our annual HLTAID009 – Provide cardiopulmonary resuscitation training covers adult, child and infant CPR, including AED use.

But CPR isn't the only emergency educators may need to respond to.

That's why we include a complimentary update covering choking, asthma and anaphylaxis when childcare teams complete their annual CPR refresher with us.

There's no additional charge.

This provides an opportunity to revisit these emergencies, discuss your service's procedures and ask questions relevant to the children in your care.

The additional update is supplementary workplace education and does not replace any separately required approved asthma or anaphylaxis training.

Does your First Aid training reflect your workplace?

Every childcare environment is different.

A long day care centre caring for infants has different considerations from a service working primarily with older children.

We believe training should reflect those differences.

Depending on the course, our trainers can incorporate practical discussions and scenarios involving:

A choking emergency during mealtimes.
Recognising and responding to asthma or anaphylaxis.
A child experiencing a seizure.
Falls, head injuries and playground incidents.
Following individual medical management plans and workplace emergency procedures.

The aim isn't to make training more complicated. It's to help educators connect what they're learning with situations they may actually encounter.

What about Manual Handling and other training?

First Aid and CPR are only part of maintaining a safe childcare environment.

Educators also perform physical tasks throughout the day, including working at floor level, assisting children, moving equipment and setting up learning spaces.

Safe Hands SA offers HLTWHS005 – Conduct manual tasks safely, along with shorter, non-accredited Manual Handling refreshers that can be tailored to childcare workplaces.

We also offer Safe Sleep education for early childhood teams as a separate training option.

These sessions can be arranged alongside your broader staff training schedule.

Can First Aid training be delivered at your childcare centre?

Yes, and for many services, on-site training is a practical way to organise staff development.

Rather than sending educators to different training venues, we bring the equipment to your workplace.

Safe Hands SA offers:

On-site First Aid and CPR training across Adelaide and regional South Australia.
Blended learning and full face-to-face options.
Training on staff development days, after hours and weekends.
Practical scenarios relevant to your service.
Experienced trainers with clinical backgrounds.

We can also assist with planning training for larger teams or multiple locations.

Planning your childcare team's First Aid training for 2027?

If you're reviewing staff qualifications, organising a development day or planning annual CPR refreshers, it's worth checking your training requirements early.

Consider whether your service has sufficient appropriately trained staff across all operating hours, whether CPR dates are current, and whether your team is familiar with the procedures and medical management plans used in your workplace.

At Safe Hands SA, we focus on practical training that helps educators understand not only what to do, but why it matters.

Need to organise First Aid or CPR training for your childcare team?

Visit our Education & Childcare First Aid Training page, email contact@safehandssa.com or give us a call - 0433 234 918 - to discuss your requirements.