ASQA issues reminder about superseded HLT First Aid units – attention ECEC

The Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA), which serves as the regulatory body for the vocational education and training (VET) sector, has issued a reminder about superseded HLT First Aid units which are relevant to the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector. 

In October 2020, the suite of first aid units of competency from the HLT Health Training Package were revised and endorsed as new versions, superseding HLTAID001-008 with HLTAID009-016. (Detailed information about the purpose and scope of these changes is provided in the HLT Health Training Package First Aid Companion Volume Implementation Guide V3.2.)

Under the Standards for RTOs, when a training product is superseded by a replacement version, training delivery in the superseded version must end within one year, meaning the transition period for delivery of units HLTAID001-008 ended in October 2021. 

Upon request from the Department of Education, Skills and Employment (DESE), ASQA extended the transition period to April 2022 to enable Skills Service Organisations to make the changes needed to qualifications from other training packages that import now-superseded first aid units. 

These changes have now been made and new versions of qualifications have been released on the national register.  

It has been agreed by DESE, ASQA and the other two vocational education and training regulators (the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority and the Training Accreditation Council Western Australia) that from 1 July 2022 the superseded version first aid units (HLTAID001-008) should no longer be delivered in any context. 

Regulators have also agreed that any student undertaking a qualification who has already completed a now-superseded version first aid unit meets eligibility rules and does not need to redo or seek credit for the new version units.

Questions should be directed to ASQA by phone to 1300 701801 or [email protected]