Registered training organisations need our approval for their Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA) course to be recognised as an approved RSA course in Victoria.
If approved, the RSA Certificate of Completion can be used in Victorian licensed venues and locations.
Follow these guidelines to develop a Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA) course that:
meets our requirements
gives learners (students) a strong understanding of how to serve alcohol responsibly, to help reduce alcohol-related harm in the community.
You must have SITHFAB021 Provide responsible service of alcohol listed as part of your scope of training on training.gov.au.
Course duration and class size
The in-person course must take at least 6 hours, excluding breaks. For in-person training, the class size cannot be more than 25 learners.
The online course is self-paced, allowing learners to work through the material at their own pace.
There is no limit on the number of learners you can enrol in an online course.
General course requirements
These general requirements apply to both in-person and online courses.
Course content
Course content must:
reflect the elements, performance, and assessment requirements of the SITHFAB021 Provide responsible service of alcohol
include a robust and recurrent message on the learner’s role in harm minimisation, including information on drink spiking and not using prone restraint
be engaging and interactive using various training activities such as role plays, scenarios, videos, break-out groups or industry experiences
consider the needs of learners and different learning styles
be written in plain language.
Assessment requirements
You must assess that a learner is competent to serve alcohol responsibly.
You could consider:
the use of randomly-generated or varied ‘banks’ of assessment material to ensure learners do not complete the same assessment
providing learners with information about assessment requirements and processes
tailoring communication and support to all learners, including learners with a disability, learners from non-English speaking backgrounds and learners in remote locations
providing learners with real-time support through phone calls, emails from qualified assessors, online meetings and surveys to get feedback on satisfaction with the course.
A learner mustactively demonstrate they can:
prevent intoxication
refuse service of alcohol to an intoxicated person.
You must observe them doing this, for example, in a role play (in person or recorded) or by observing them in the workplace.
It does not meet the requirement if, for example, learners only write about how they would do this.
Final assessment
For the final assessment test:
the pass mark is 100%
if a learner fails 3 times, they must repeat the course.
During the test, the trainer must not:
help a learner answer a question
provide a learner with the correct answer before the test is over
advise an answer is incorrect before the test is over.
