Food Handler or Food Safety Supervisor: which course do you need?

Compare the 2 food safety training courses

Here is how the two courses line up side by side.

The business must decide which workers need each level. Your role in the kitchen or on the floor points you straight to the right one.

Can you do food safety training online and stay compliant?

Yes, for Food Handling. It runs online and self-paced, so you start as soon as you enrol and study around your shifts. It is the same SITXFSA005 unit, so it meets the same food-handler training requirement.

The Food Safety Supervisor course runs in a classroom, so you train face to face with a trainer before you step into the supervisor role.

Choose Food Handling

Food Handling is the starting point for cooks, kitchen hands, servers and others who handle food. It covers hygiene, contamination, health issues and safe work practices.

It suits chefs, caterers, bar and food and beverage attendants, and anyone preparing, serving or selling food in restaurants, cafes, bars and fast-food outlets.

You learn to follow hygiene procedures, spot food hazards, report health issues and prevent contamination and cross-contamination, including correct hand washing.

SITXFSA005 meets the food-handler training requirement in Standard 3.2.2A for category 1 and 2 food businesses. If the business is appointing you as its Food Safety Supervisor, the supervisor course is the one for you.

The Statement of Attainment has no formal expiry. It is a Food Handling certificate you take with you to every food job.

Is a food hygiene certificate the same as food safety training?

Yes. Food Handling is the unit Use Hygienic Practices for Food Safety, so the Statement of Attainment you receive is the food hygiene certificate employers ask for. It covers hygiene procedures, food hazards and preventing contamination.

If your employer wants a certified food safety certificate for its supervisor, book the Food Safety Supervisor course.

Choose the supervisor course

Food Safety Supervisor is for the person a food business appoints to oversee food safety. It adds safe food-handling supervision to the handler unit.

The skill set is SITSS00069. It contains SITXFSA005 and SITXFSA006, so it also covers the food-handler training.

The Food Safety Supervisor course suits cooks, chefs, caterers, kitchen hands and food-business managers stepping into the supervisor role. You learn to identify hazards, monitor food safety, respond to food safety emergencies and keep food handling areas clean, from storage and preparation through to display and disposal.

Food Safety Supervisor certification is renewed every 5 years. In NSW, students also receive the separate NSW Food Authority FSS certificate.

The NSW course also covers the NSW Food Authority key focus areas: safe egg handling, allergen management, cleaning and sanitising, and Food Act offences. You finish ready to lead food safety in your kitchen.

Check the state difference

The nationally recognised units can be used across Australia, but NSW adds its own Food Safety Supervisor certificate. Victoria does not issue that NSW certificate.

Wherever you work, the same nationally recognised units sit at the heart of your Food Safety training course.

Do you need both?

One course is all you need. Book Food Handling if you only need the handler unit. Book Food Safety Supervisor if you need the supervisor skill set, because it already includes SITXFSA005.

Got a unit or skill-set code from your employer? Book the course that matches that code.

Next step

Choose Food Handling for food-handler training. Choose Food Safety Supervisor if you will be the business's appointed supervisor.

Pick a date that suits you and get your food safety training sorted.