An accredited RSA course was advertised at about A$27 to A$90 a person in October 2026, and in New South Wales the competency card fee is already inside that price, so the real cost to a venue is the hours, not the fee.
Skai Solutions answers the phones for restaurants, cafes and bars across Australia and New Zealand, so we see this paperwork from the operator's side rather than the course seller's. The fee is the least interesting number on this page. What catches venues out is the 30 day deadline in Queensland, the five year expiry in New South Wales, and the fact that the same national certificate has two different shelf lives depending on which state printed it.
Accredited online Responsible Service of Alcohol courses were advertised at about A$27 to A$90 a person in October 2026. That is the whole visible cost in most states, and in New South Wales it is the whole cost full stop, because Service NSW states that the cost of the competency card is included in the course fee you pay the training provider. Liquor and Gaming NSW says the same thing from the other direction: enrol with an Approved Training Provider and the cost for your initial competency card is included in their fees, so there is no separate government charge to budget for.
So the fee is small and it is not where venues lose money. The money is in the hours, the deadline and the renewal, and those are different in every state.
Queensland's own regulator puts this bluntly. Business Queensland warns that many online courses do not meet Queensland's RSA certification requirements even though they charge fees and claim to give you the right certificate, and that penalties apply if staff do not hold the right qualification.
The test is one word on the paperwork. A valid RSA is a Statement of Attainment in the nationally recognised unit called Provide Responsible Service of Alcohol, current code SITHFAB021. Some courses issue a Statement of Attendance instead. That is not the same document and it is not worth anything to you. Older codes are still fine as long as the unit name matches, and Business Queensland lists SITHFAB002, SITHFAB009A and THHBFB09B as still valid.
Checking that one word on a new hire's certificate costs nothing and is the single highest value minute in the whole process.
These are the three things that actually differ, and they are the three things the course sellers do not lead with.
| Thing | New South Wales | Queensland |
|---|---|---|
| Is a card issued? | Yes. A physical and digital competency card with your photo, valid for 5 years | No. Business Queensland states you will not get a card, only the Statement of Attainment |
| Deadline to be certified | Before selling, serving or supplying alcohol | Within 30 days of starting employment |
| Retraining | Full course again if your RSA training was over five years ago, refresher only if inside five years | Statement of Attainment does not lapse on its own |
| In person step | Yes. 100 points of identification at a Service NSW centre, and you must apply yourself | No |
| Gap cover while waiting | Interim certificate lets the person work for 90 days; the card takes 2 to 4 weeks | Not applicable |
Two practical consequences. In New South Wales a new starter can work on the interim certificate, so you are not blocked, but somebody has to physically get to a Service NSW centre inside those 90 days or you have an uncertified person on the floor. In Queensland the 30 day clock starts the day they start, not the day you get around to booking the course.
Not symmetrically, and this is the finding worth the most to anyone who hires people who have just moved.
Queensland accepts an interstate qualification outright, as long as it is a Statement of Attainment from the nationally accredited unit. New South Wales does not. Liquor and Gaming NSW requires an RSA bridging course for anyone who has moved permanently to New South Wales holding an interstate RSA, and the eligibility rules put two different shelf lives on the same national unit of competency:
Same unit, same training package, two years of difference depending on which state printed the certificate. If the person falls outside those windows they do the full New South Wales course, not the bridging course.
The other half of the rule is about residence rather than paperwork. A worker who has not moved permanently to New South Wales and holds an approved interstate RSA does not need the bridging course at all, provided they can show the certificate when asked. Security staff and RSA marshals are the exception and must do it either way. So the question that decides it is not "where is your certificate from", it is "have you moved here".
This is Skai Solutions' own arithmetic on the figures above, shown so you can follow it rather than trust it. Twelve staff at the A$27 to A$90 advertised band is A$324 to A$1,080 in course fees. In New South Wales add twelve trips to a Service NSW centre. If each trip costs an hour of paid time at the Hospitality Industry (General) Award Level 2 adult full time rate of A$27.08 an hour, published in the Fair Work award summary, that is about A$325 of wages, which can quietly double the cost of the exercise. In Queensland that line is zero, because there is no card and no counter.
Either way the number is small. Which is the point: there is no financial reason to be the venue that gets caught with an uncertified person behind the bar.
The penalties are not for the missing certificate itself so much as for what tends to happen without one. Queensland calculates liquor penalties in penalty units and publishes the unit value at $172.70, changing each 1 July. On the published schedule, selling or giving liquor to a disorderly patron carries a maximum of A$86,350 for a licensee or approved manager and A$13,816 for a bar attendant, and failing to comply with a condition of the licence carries up to A$6,908 for an individual. Two convictions involving minors or intoxicated persons inside two years and the licence is automatically suspended.
Those are maximums, not typical outcomes, and Queensland does not publish typical outcomes. Read them as the size of the exposure, not as a forecast. If you want the neighbouring rule set, our guide to minors on licensed premises covers the same two states and the same asymmetry problem.
If your venue has no liquor licence, none of this applies to you and you should not buy a course for anybody. An unlicensed cafe has a food safety obligation, not an alcohol one, and the money is better spent on the food handler certificate or a food safety supervisor. If you are not sure which instrument covers your venue at all, start with which award covers your restaurant, because licensed and unlicensed venues can sit under different ones. And if you hold a limited licence for occasional functions, check the certification condition on that licence before assuming the general rule applies.
It comes in at the booking, which is the one part of responsible service that happens before anyone is on your premises. The calls that matter are the 18th birthday, the party asking whether they can bring their own, the group wanting to book the whole back bar. Refusing or qualifying those on the phone is easier than managing them at 9pm, and it is a scripted conversation, not a judgement call. Skai Solutions answers those calls against your actual licence conditions and your actual house rules, takes the booking when it fits and asks a human to call back when it does not. Setup is five days. If your phone mostly rings with simple table bookings, a basic message taking plan is the right buy and it is not us.
Two related guides: BYO licence rules and charging a no show fee.
How much is an RSA certificate in NSW?
Accredited online courses were advertised at about A$27 to A$90 a person in October 2026, and Service NSW states the competency card fee is included in that course price, so there is no separate government charge.
How long does an RSA certificate last?
It depends on the state. A NSW competency card is valid for 5 years and NSW requires the full course again if your training was more than five years ago. Queensland issues a Statement of Attainment that does not lapse on its own.
Does my Queensland RSA work in New South Wales?
Only if you have not moved permanently to NSW. If you have, Liquor and Gaming NSW requires the RSA bridging course, and you are eligible for it with a Queensland Statement of Attainment issued within the last 5 years.
How long do staff have to get an RSA in Queensland?
Business Queensland states everyone, including international travellers and students, must complete the course within 30 days of starting employment in a licensed venue.
What is the difference between a Statement of Attainment and a Statement of Attendance?
A Statement of Attainment is the certificate from the nationally accredited unit Provide Responsible Service of Alcohol and is the only one that counts. A Statement of Attendance is not the same document and does not make the RSA valid.
Do under 18s need an RSA to serve alcohol?
In Queensland yes. Business Queensland states that under 18s can serve or supply alcohol in hotels, restaurants and cafes where there is no adult entertainment permit, and that all staff who serve or supply alcohol must hold an RSA certificate regardless of age.