Food Handler or Food Safety Supervisor: which course do you need?
Choose the right food safety course by the work you do, the responsibility you hold and the state where you work.
Written byEdway
The short answer
Choose Food Handling if you prepare, serve or touch food or food-contact surfaces. Choose Food Safety Supervisor if the business will appoint you as its certified supervisor.
The supervisor course includes the food-handler unit, so you would not normally book both.
Compare the 2 courses
| Course | Training | Best fit | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food Handling | SITXFSA005 | People who handle food or food-contact items | Statement of Attainment |
| Food Safety Supervisor | SITSS00069, including SITXFSA005 and SITXFSA006 | The person appointed to supervise food safety | Statement of Attainment, plus a NSW FSS certificate in NSW |
The business must decide which workers need each level. Your employer or local food regulator can confirm the requirement for your 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.
SITXFSA005 meets the food-handler training requirement in Standard 3.2.2A for category 1 and 2 food businesses. It does not make you the business's appointed Food Safety Supervisor.
The Statement of Attainment has no formal expiry. Refresher expectations can still apply, so check your workplace and local regulator.
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.
Food Safety Supervisor certification is renewed every 5 years. In NSW, students also receive the separate NSW Food Authority FSS certificate.
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.
If you will be appointed in another state or territory, check the local food regulator's rules before booking.
Do you need both?
Usually no. 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.
If your employer gave you a unit or skill-set code, follow that code.
Next step
Choose Food Handling for food-handler training. Choose Food Safety Supervisor if you will be the business's appointed supervisor.
Sources
- Food Standards Australia New Zealand — Food safety management toolsThe separate food-handler training and Food Safety Supervisor requirements under Standard 3.2.2A
- training.gov.au — SITXFSA005 and SITSS00069The nationally recognised unit and skill-set outcomes
- NSW Food Authority — Food Safety SupervisorsThe NSW Food Safety Supervisor certificate and 5-year renewal period
