Regulation 136 requires that, at all times children are being educated and cared for and at any place they are being educated and cared for, at least one staff member or nominated supervisor who holds a current approved first aid qualification, at least one who has undertaken current approved anaphylaxis management training, and at least one who has undertaken current approved emergency asthma management training are in attendance and immediately available in an emergency. The same person may hold all three (regulation 136(4)). In family day care every educator and educator assistant must hold all three (regulation 136(3)). The penalty is $6,600. A qualification is current if the CPR and emergency life support component was completed within the previous year and every other component within the previous 3 years; anaphylaxis and asthma training are current for 3 years (regulation 136(4A)). Regulation 89 separately requires an appropriate number of suitably equipped, recognisable and accessible first aid kits, also at $6,600.
This page covers first aid under the National Regulations as reprinted on 12 August 2026: who must be qualified and where, what current and approved mean, the school-site and family day care rules, first aid kits, the policies and records that go with them, and how the requirement interacts with excursions, early and late shifts and the medical conditions policy.
| Requirement | Detail | Provision |
|---|---|---|
| First aid | At least one staff member or nominated supervisor holding a current approved first aid qualification | r 136(1)(a) |
| Anaphylaxis | At least one staff member or nominated supervisor who has undertaken current approved anaphylaxis management training | r 136(1)(b) |
| Asthma | At least one staff member or nominated supervisor who has undertaken current approved emergency asthma management training | r 136(1)(c) |
| When and where | At all times children are being educated and cared for, at any place where they are being educated and cared for, in attendance and immediately available in an emergency | r 136(1) |
| One person, three qualifications | Permitted | r 136(4) |
| Service on a school site | Sufficient if a school staff member with each qualification is in attendance at the school site and immediately available | r 136(2) |
| Family day care | Every educator and educator assistant must hold all three | r 136(3) |
| Penalty | $6,600; a compliance direction may also be issued | r 136(1), (3) |
The two phrases that decide most compliance questions are “at any place” and “immediately available”. A service operating across two buildings, or taking a group on an excursion, needs the qualified person at each place children are, not somewhere on the provider’s books. A qualified person on a lunch break off the premises, or in a meeting with the door closed and the phone off, is not immediately available. The regulation attaches to staff members and nominated supervisors, so a parent volunteer or a visiting contractor with a first aid certificate does not satisfy it.
| Training | Current if completed within the previous |
|---|---|
| Emergency life support and CPR component of the first aid qualification | 1 year |
| Every other component of the first aid qualification | 3 years |
| Anaphylaxis management training | 3 years |
| Emergency asthma management training | 3 years |
The annual CPR refresher is the one most often missed: a three-year first aid certificate stops being current for regulation 136 purposes twelve months after the CPR component was last done, even though the certificate itself has not expired. Diarise CPR renewals by person and keep the statement of attainment for each refresher in the staff record.
An approved first aid qualification is one that includes training, related to and appropriate for children, in emergency life support and cardiopulmonary resuscitation, convulsions, poisoning, respiratory difficulties, management of severe bleeding, injury and basic wound care, and administration of an auto-immune adrenalin device, and that ACECQA has approved under Division 7. Approved anaphylaxis management training and approved emergency asthma management training are the courses ACECQA has approved for those purposes. ACECQA publishes the lists under regulation 137(1)(e). The nationally recognised unit most services hold is HLTAID012 Provide First Aid in an education and care setting, which includes the anaphylaxis and asthma components; its predecessor HLTAID004 remains on the former-qualifications list for people who hold it. A general first aid unit (HLTAID011) and a CPR unit (HLTAID009) are approved for the first aid limb, with separate approved anaphylaxis and asthma courses for the other two. Check the exact unit code against the current ACECQA list rather than the course title: a workplace first aid certificate from a non-approved course does not count.
The approved provider must ensure that, wherever the service is providing education and care, an appropriate number of first aid kits is kept having regard to the number of children, that the kits are suitably equipped, and that they are easily recognisable and readily accessible to adults having regard to the design of the premises. A family day care educator must keep a suitably equipped, recognisable and accessible kit wherever they are educating and caring for children. The penalty for each is $6,600. The Regulations do not prescribe contents; regulators accept the Safe Work Australia first aid code of practice contents as the baseline, with items appropriate to children (smaller dressings, ice packs, a thermometer, gloves, a CPR mask) and a portable kit for excursions and the outdoor area. Restock and date-check against a schedule, and keep the checks, because officers open the kit.
Regulation 136(1) requires at least one staff member or nominated supervisor with a current approved first aid qualification, at least one with current approved anaphylaxis management training and at least one with current approved emergency asthma management training, in attendance and immediately available at all times and at every place children are being educated and cared for. One person may hold all three (regulation 136(4)). In practice services need enough qualified people to cover every shift, every excursion group and every separate location.
Not under regulation 136 for centre-based services, which requires at least one qualified person present and immediately available. Every family day care educator and educator assistant must hold all three qualifications (regulation 136(3)). Many centre-based services qualify all educators anyway so that shifts, excursions and split rooms are always covered.
Every year. Under regulation 136(4A) the emergency life support and CPR component of an approved first aid qualification is current only if completed within the previous year. The other components of the first aid qualification, anaphylaxis training and asthma training are current for 3 years.
The one on ACECQA’s published list under regulation 137(1)(e). HLTAID012 Provide First Aid in an education and care setting is the unit most services hold and covers the first aid, anaphylaxis and asthma limbs. HLTAID011 and HLTAID009 are approved for the first aid limb, with separate approved anaphylaxis and asthma courses. Check the exact unit code against the current list.
Regulation 89 does not list contents. It requires an appropriate number of kits for the number of children, suitably equipped, easily recognisable and readily accessible to adults, wherever the service is providing education and care, with a $6,600 penalty. Regulators accept the Safe Work Australia first aid code of practice as the baseline, with items suited to children and a portable kit for excursions.
Yes. Regulation 136 applies at any place where children are being educated and cared for, so the excursion group needs its own qualified person who is immediately available, and the children remaining at the service need one too. The excursion risk assessment under regulation 101 should identify who they are and the kit going with the group.
$6,600 under regulation 136(1) for a centre-based service and regulation 136(3) for a family day care service, and a compliance direction may be issued. Failing to keep first aid kits under regulation 89 carries a separate $6,600 penalty.
Ask whether a specific roster, excursion plan or split-site arrangement meets regulation 136, or what regulation 89 requires of your kits. WIDEN Law cites the regulation in each answer.
14-day free trial, no card →This page is a research summary, not legal or compliance advice. Element and regulation wording is reproduced from the current reprint of the National Regulations; confirm the position with your regulatory authority before relying on it for a compliance decision.