Which first aid unit is which
HLTAID009 is the CPR unit, HLTAID012 is first aid for education and care settings, and HLTAID014 is advanced first aid. A fourth unit, Provide First Aid, is the one the model Code of Practice names as the minimum for a first aider at work.
Which one a job calls for depends on the setting, and each setting has its own document to check.
- Filed under
- HLTAID009 · HLTAID012 · HLTAID014
- Checked
- 8 October 2026
General information, not medical or legal advice. Call Triple Zero (000) in an emergency, or go to the emergency department of your nearest hospital. Check each unit’s own document on training.gov.au, linked at the foot of this page.
The units side by side
| Unit | What it describes | Who it applies to | What it replaced |
|---|---|---|---|
| HLTAID009 | The skills and knowledge to perform CPR in line with the Australian Resuscitation Council (ARC) guidelines. | Anyone who may need to give CPR, in many kinds of situation, at work and in the community among them. | HLTAID001 Perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Not equivalent, the unit records. |
| HLTAID012 | A first aid response following guidelines from the ARC and other national peak clinical bodies. | Workers in education and care settings who must respond to a first aid emergency, asthma and anaphylaxis included; early childhood workers, and educators in outside school hours care and vacation programs, among them. | HLTAID004, the earlier education and care unit. Not equivalent, the unit records. |
| HLTAID014 | An advanced first aid response to a casualty, following guidelines from the ARC and other national peak clinical bodies. | Anyone who may need to give an advanced first aid response, at work or in the community. | HLTAID006 Provide advanced first aid. Not equivalent, the unit records. |
| Provide First Aid | The unit the model Code of Practice names as a workplace first aider’s minimum. | Workplace first aiders, under the model Code and the state codes in Entry 04. | HLTAID003 Provide first aid. Not equivalent, the unit records. |
“Not equivalent” is each unit document’s own phrase. A certificate naming HLTAID001, HLTAID004 or HLTAID006 names the unit that came before, so where an employer or a service asks for a particular code, compare it with the code on the certificate.
Settings and units
A workplace
Safe Work Australia’s model Code of Practice sets a first aider’s minimum at the unit Provide First Aid, or a course giving equivalent skills. The codes of New South Wales and Tasmania use the same words for their own states, and Victoria’s compliance code says employers need to make sure first aid officers hold that unit, or equivalent training, as a minimum.
Distance from emergency services
New South Wales’s code also asks its workplaces to weigh distance: where a life-threatening injury or illness could happen and emergency services may not arrive in good time, it says to consider someone with more advanced first aid training, giving oxygen being its example. The advanced unit in this register is HLTAID014.
Childcare and other education and care services
ACECQA is required by the Education and Care Services National Regulations to publish lists of approved first aid qualifications, and of approved training in anaphylaxis management and emergency asthma management. HLTAID012’s document says the unit may count towards approved first aid, asthma and anaphylaxis training under the national law and regulations for education and care. ACECQA’s list is the one to check.
CPR on its own
HLTAID009 applies, in its own words, to “all persons who may be required to provide CPR”.
Refresher training
On refresher training, each unit sends the reader elsewhere: licensing and regulatory requirements, refresher training included, are to come from the relevant national, state or territory work health and safety regulator. Entry 02 sets out what those regulators’ codes recommend.
Parts of a unit document
Each unit document is laid out in labelled parts, and three of them answer most questions.
- Application: what the unit describes and who it applies to.
- Elements and Performance Criteria: what a learner has to be able to do, numbered 1.1, 1.2 and on. Entry 05 reads these.
- Unit Mapping Information: the older unit it replaced, and whether the two are equivalent.