What is HLTAID012?
HLTAID012 Provide First Aid in an Education and Care Setting is the nationally recognised First Aid qualification required for staff working in childcare centres, family day care, outside school hours care, vacation programs, and early childhood education settings across Australia.
It goes beyond standard First Aid to address the specific needs of infants and children, including physiological differences in how children respond to emergencies, age-appropriate communication and distraction techniques, and mandatory emergency action plans for known conditions including anaphylaxis and asthma. Because of this, HLTAID012 satisfies the first aid, anaphylaxis, and asthma training requirements of the National Quality Framework in a single qualification. You do not need to book separate anaphylaxis and asthma training if you hold HLTAID012.
It supersedes the previous HLTAID004 Provide an Emergency First Aid Response in an Education and Care Setting.
National Quality Framework Compliance
Under the Education and Care Services National Law and the Education and Care Services National Regulations, approved education and care services are required to ensure that trained First Aiders are on site and immediately available at all times children are present.
HLTAID012 is the qualification recognised by ACECQA as meeting the first aid, anaphylaxis management, and emergency asthma management training requirements for education and care services. Completing HLTAID012 satisfies all three requirements in one course.
At least one staff member or nominated supervisor must hold a current approved first aid qualification, approved anaphylaxis management training, and approved emergency asthma management training at all times. HLTAID012 covers all three.
Units of Competency Included
All four units are issued on your Statement of Attainment upon successful completion.
Who Needs HLTAID012
What the Course Covers
The following elements and performance criteria are drawn directly from the nationally endorsed unit on training.gov.au.
Conditions and Emergencies Covered
The practical component addresses a full range of paediatric and general first aid emergencies relevant to childcare and education settings.
How Training Works
HLTAID012 uses a blended learning format. You complete the online theory component at your own pace before attending your practical session. The practical day is hands-on and scenario-based, covering real situations you are likely to encounter in an education and care environment.
Book your session
Select your course date from the calendar.
Complete online theory
Work through the online component in your own time before your session date.
Attend practical session
Hands-on scenarios, infant and child CPR, AED use, and anaphylaxis and asthma management.
Receive your certificate
Four units issued on your Statement of Attainment within 24 business hours.
What to Bring and What to Expect
Comfortable clothing
Wear clothes you can move in. The practical component involves kneeling, bending, and performing CPR on the floor on both adult and infant manikins.
Your USI
Bring your Unique Student Identifier. Create one free at usi.gov.au if you do not already have one.
Theory completed
Your online theory must be completed before the session. Instructions are sent after booking.
Physical readiness
You will need to perform a minimum of 2 minutes of uninterrupted CPR on an adult manikin on the floor. This is a mandatory assessment requirement.
Common Questions
Does HLTAID012 cover anaphylaxis and asthma training?
Yes. HLTAID012 satisfies the first aid, anaphylaxis management, and emergency asthma management training requirements of the National Quality Framework in a single qualification. You do not need to book separate anaphylaxis or asthma courses if you hold HLTAID012.
What is the difference between HLTAID011 and HLTAID012?
HLTAID011 is the standard workplace First Aid certificate for most industries. HLTAID012 includes everything in HLTAID011 and adds the specific skills and knowledge required in education and care settings: infant and child CPR, paediatric physiological differences, age-appropriate communication techniques, emergency action plans for anaphylaxis and asthma, and NQF documentation requirements. For childcare and education workers, HLTAID012 is the correct qualification.
How often does HLTAID012 need to be renewed?
HLTAID012 is recommended to be renewed every 3 years. The CPR component is recommended to be refreshed every 12 months in line with Australian Resuscitation Council guidelines. Many childcare services also require annual EpiPen training. Check your service's specific requirements.
Can HLTAID012 be delivered on-site at our childcare centre or school?
Yes. On-site delivery is available for childcare centres, family day care networks, schools, and other education and care services across Western Australia. Training your whole team together at your own service means scenarios can be tailored to your specific environment. Enquire about on-site delivery.
What superseded HLTAID004?
HLTAID012 supersedes and replaces HLTAID004 Provide an Emergency First Aid Response in an Education and Care Setting. If your current certificate shows HLTAID004 it is time to renew under the current HLTAID012 unit.
Is HLTAID012 required for family day care educators in WA?
Yes. Under the Education and Care Services National Regulations, family day care educators and educator assistants must hold a current approved first aid qualification, approved anaphylaxis management training, and approved emergency asthma management training. HLTAID012 satisfies all three requirements. Check with your family day care service or coordinator if you are unsure of the specific renewal requirements they apply.
The Story of Jack Irvine
Jack Irvine was 15 years old. He had a known severe tree nut allergy and asthma. In 2012 he attended a catered go-karting camp in Melbourne. Due to a staff shortage on the day, the camp ordered lunch from a sandwich chain. Jack ate a cookie, believing the white chips in it were chocolate. They were macadamia nuts.
The family had submitted standard allergy notification forms to the camp before the day. That information was on file. But when Jack's symptoms appeared, the people around him did not recognise what was happening. What they saw looked like an asthma attack. His inhaler was used. Time passed. Adrenaline was not administered.
It was not until the ambulance arrived that the reaction was identified as anaphylaxis. Jack died in hospital six days later.
A Victorian Coroners Court inquest handed down findings in April 2016. The Victorian Karting Association formally apologised in court and acknowledged that no proper processes were in place for managing allergic reactions and no adequate first aid plan existed. Jack's story was chosen as the centrepiece of Food Allergy Week 2016 by Allergy and Anaphylaxis Australia.
Anaphylaxis and asthma can look the same in the early stages. When someone with a known allergy and asthma shows breathing difficulty, the instinct may be to reach for the inhaler. That instinct can cost a life. If asthma treatment is not working and there is any possibility of anaphylaxis: administer adrenaline. That is the decision HLTAID012 trains you to make. Not after the ambulance arrives. In time.
Deaths from anaphylaxis are rare. They are also almost always preventable. The failures in Jack's case: an allergy known but not acted on, symptoms misidentified, no emergency action plan, no adrenaline in time. These are precisely what this training exists to address.
Read the coronial inquest findings at Allergy and Anaphylaxis Australia →Why This Fundraising Page Exists
Jack Irvine's story is the one I tell in every class. It is the clearest example I have found of how quickly things go wrong when the signs of anaphylaxis are missed, and how preventable that outcome was. But Jack is not the only one.
Allergy and Anaphylaxis Australia maintains a record of coronial investigations into anaphylaxis deaths across Australia. Each one is a real person, a real family, and a real chain of events that ended in a death that should not have happened. Reading those findings changed the way I teach. Not just the anaphylaxis and asthma content. All of it. The way I explain recognition, the way I frame the decision to use an EpiPen, the weight I place on emergency action plans and what it actually means to have one that works.
This fundraising page is in honour of each of those stories. Jack, and every other name in that list.
If you have the fortitude, I recommend reading them. The coronial findings are available on the Allergy and Anaphylaxis Australia website. They are not easy reading. But there is more to learn from each one of them than from any textbook, and the families who allowed their stories to be shared did so because they believed it would help prevent the next one.
All donations go directly to Allergy and Anaphylaxis Australia. You can also read the coronial investigations at allergyfacts.org.au/coronial-inquiries
Other Courses
Book HLTAID012 Childcare First Aid
Available across Western Australia. Public sessions and on-site delivery for childcare centres, family day care, schools and education services.