7. Awards & Training

SLSA's award pathway lets you build your lifesaving knowledge and skill step by step — every award is nationally recognised and transfers between clubs anywhere in Australia.

Junior development (Nippers)

Surf Education Certificates (U6–U13) build progressive surf awareness and safety knowledge. Adults aged 18+ can complete the Nipper Rescue Certificate to provide water safety alongside qualified SRC and Bronze Medallion holders.

Member courses

These are the courses available to members in WA, with what you need before you start, the minimum age, and how often the award must be renewed.

RST is the Recreational Skippers Ticket. Renewal means an annual Skills Maintenance Check for most awards — see 7.2 Annual Skills Maintenance. First Aid, ART and the Resuscitation Certificate are also nationally accredited units (HLTAID011, HLTAID015 and HLTAID009), delivered by SLSWA or by a club holding an auspice agreement.

Coaching, officiating & leadership

Age Manager Award (renews every 5 years, current WWCC required), SLSA Surf Sports Coach and SLSA Official. Trainer, Assessor and Facilitator roles — the members who deliver and assess these courses — have their own pathway and currency rules, set out in 7.4 Training & Assessing.

Skills Maintenance (also called "proficiency" or "requal") is a targeted annual check-in, not a full re-exam — it typically has two parts: online theory via the SLS Members Hub eLearning platform, completed before you attend, and a practical assessment at the club with a qualified Assessor, covering rescue scenarios, resuscitation, signals and award-specific skills.

Each skill only needs to be demonstrated once per season, even if it counts toward more than one award you hold — and a fitness test completed for a higher award (like Gold Medallion) satisfies the fitness requirement for lower prerequisite awards too.

How to book a face-to-face session

1. Log in to the SLS Members Hub at hub.sls.com.au

2. Go to Application > eLearning in the top menu

3. Click the red "Login to eLearning" button

4. Select "Training Event" from the left menu and browse the calendar for an available session

5. Select your session and click "Enrol"

If your award has lapsed

• Less than one full season — you can generally complete the current season's Skills Maintenance to regain proficiency, subject to Assessor sign-off

• More than one year — a qualified Assessor completes a gap analysis, and you may need extra training in identified gaps before being reassessed

• Five or more years — the general guideline is to complete the full award assessment again, though exceptions can be made where you can demonstrate the right skill set through experience or other qualifications

Contact the Director of Education first if your award has lapsed, to talk through the right pathway back.

To enrol in a course, you need to:

1. Be a current financial member for the relevant season
2. Meet all SLSA prerequisites for the course — age, prerequisite awards, fitness requirements
3. Hold a current Working With Children Check where the role requires one
4. Register via the SLS Members Hub or by contacting the Director of Education
5. Pay any applicable course fees before it starts

What the club offers each season

• At least one Bronze Medallion course, timed to finish before the patrol season opens
• Annual Skills Maintenance sessions for all relevant awards
• A Surf Rescue Certificate (SRC/Cadet) assessment pathway
• Observer Award orientation for Probationary members
• Age Manager update sessions for Nipper program volunteers

Additional courses — IRB, ART, First Aid, higher awards — are scheduled based on demand and club operational needs. Course fees are set by the Board; the Bronze Medallion Levy ($100) applies once, on your first eligible Active or Probationary membership where you don't already hold a Bronze Medallion. If cost is a genuine barrier, speak confidentially with the Club Administrator about a concession or instalment arrangement.

Every course the club runs depends on members who are qualified to deliver and assess it. Those members are called TAFs — Trainers, Assessors and Facilitators. If you have ever thought about helping teach a Bronze course or sign off skills maintenance, this is the pathway.

You do not need a teaching background. What you do need is to be current in the award you want to train or assess in, and to be willing to work through a logbook alongside an experienced club mentor.

Who does what

• Trainer — teaches course content and skills in line with the course criteria and lesson plans.
• Head Trainer — appointed to every course, responsible for the venue, equipment, schedule and allocating trainers to each session.
• Assessor — assesses candidates against the standard and runs skills maintenance checks. Must give feedback and complete the paperwork.
• Assessor in Charge (AiC) — where several assessors work one assessment, the AiC decides how it runs, briefs candidates on the process and their right to appeal, and arranges a different assessor for anyone deemed not yet competent.
• Facilitator — trains and assesses a whole course. Only available for First Aid, ART, Pain Management, SMPC and SMAR.
• Club Mentor — an experienced TAF who guides probationary trainers and assessors and signs off their logbook. Appointed by the Head of Education or SLSWA.
• Head of Education — runs education at the club: course scheduling, training ratios, checking TAF awards are current, and equipment.

Becoming a Trainer

The WA Training Officer award is the generic underlying qualification for all trainers. Once you hold it, you complete a logbook to become a trainer of a specific award — for example, Trainer of Bronze Medallion.

1. Get involved with training at the club and build experience in the award you want to train in. Record it in your WA Probationary Trainer Logbook — a minimum of two courses.
2. Complete the online Child Safe and Surf Risk Rating modules and the pre-course workbook.
3. Attend a WA Training Officers Course and hand your portfolio to the facilitator. You now hold the WA Training Officer award.
4. When you are confident, deliver three full sessions while being assessed by a club training mentor.
5. Send the completed logbook to SLSWA along with lesson plans for each of the three sessions.

You are then a WA Trainer for that award — and you receive a trainer's shirt.

Becoming an Assessor

The WA Assessor award works the same way: a general qualification first, then a logbook for each specific award.

1. Complete the WA Assessors Workbook and hand it to your course facilitator, then attend the WA Assessors Course. You now hold the WA Assessor award.
2. Get a WA Assessors Logbook.
3. Complete two full assessments on a group of candidates trained in the award you want to assess, working under a qualified assessor of that award. Record both in the logbook.
4. Send the completed logbook, with the final award assessment, to SLSWA.

You are then a WA Assessor for that award — for example, WA Assessor Bronze Medallion.

Becoming a Facilitator

Facilitators must hold both the WA Training Officer and WA Assessor awards, and be either an experienced trainer and assessor, or an assessor and a subject matter expert. From there you gain experience in delivering the course, then deliver two complete courses under the supervision of a facilitator in that award, recording them in a WA Facilitator's Logbook. Send the completed logbook to SLSWA with the final award assessment.

Entry requirements at a glance

Staying current

Accreditation is not permanent — it lapses if you do not keep it up. To stay current as a TAF you must:

• Hold and remain current in the surf award you train or assess. You cannot assess a Bronze Medallion if your own Bronze is not proficient. Check your currency on the SLS Hub under Awards.
• Hold a current WA Training Officer, Assessor or Facilitator award for the role you are performing.
• Attend a WA TAF Development Session (in-service) each year.
• Complete the WA TAF Currency Form at least every two years and send it to the club's Education Officer, who forwards it to SLSWA. The form is in the SLS Hub Document Library under SLSWA → Education.
• Complete the Child Safe Awareness online course or an equivalent.
• Hold a current Working With Children Check. Exemptions may apply — check with the club.

You must also follow SLSA's Member Protection Policy 6.05 and Child Protection Policy 6.04, work within Health and Safety legislation, and complete a risk assessment for every wet activity.

Training and assessing ratios

SLSWA recommends a training ratio of 1:8 for most courses and 1:6 for powercraft. For assessing, the recommended ratio is 1:6 — an assessor must be able to see every candidate perform every required skill. Experienced trainers may manage higher numbers; ratios can also be increased for theory-only sessions, and should be reduced for inexperienced trainers or powercraft.

If you are interested in any of these pathways, start by talking to the Director of Education — they can pair you with a club mentor and get you into the right course.

Assessment disputes

If you think an assessment outcome was incorrect or unfair, raise it with the Director of Education first. If it can't be resolved at club level, you can escalate to SLSWA under their appeals process. Assessment decisions have to be based on the SLSA assessment standard and your demonstrated performance against it — not personal preference or patrol history.

Reasonable adjustments

SLSA recognises that surf lifesaving activities need a reasonable level of fitness and ability. The club will consider reasonable adjustments to how a skill is demonstrated in assessment — these don't lower the standard, only the method of showing you meet it, and any adjustment made is noted on your assessment record.

Trainers, Assessors & Facilitators (TAF)

TAF accreditation carries its own currency requirements — see 7.4 Training & Assessing for what you need to keep up and how often. Let the Director of Education know if your TAF currency is at risk of lapsing.