Printed 30 October 2026
7.1
Updated 22 Oct 2026 · Grant
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.
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.
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.
Award | Prerequisites | Min. age | Renewal |
|---|---|---|---|
WA Nipper Rescue Certificate (NRC) | 200 m swim in 6 min | 18 | Yearly |
Surf Rescue Certificate (SRC) | 200 m swim in 5 min | 13 | Yearly |
Bronze Medallion (BM) | 400 m swim in 9 min | 15 | Yearly |
Radio Operator (RO) | — | 13 | Yearly |
Resuscitation Certificate | — | 10 | Yearly |
First Aid | — | 14 | 3 years |
Advanced Resuscitation Technique (ART) | First Aid | 15 | Yearly |
Pain Management (PM) | Bronze Medallion, ART, First Aid | 18 | 2 years |
Silver Medallion Aquatic Rescue (SMAR) | Bronze Medallion, 400 m swim in 8 min | 16 | Yearly |
Silver Medallion Patrol Captain (SMPC) | Bronze Medallion | 17 | Varies |
Gold Medallion (GM) | Bronze Medallion, SMPC, First Aid, ART, 800 m swim in 14 min | 17 | Yearly |
IRB Crew (IRBC) | Bronze Medallion | 15 | Yearly |
Silver Medallion IRB Driver (IRBD) | Bronze Medallion, IRB Crew, RST | 17 | Yearly |
Rescue Water Craft Operator (RWC) | Bronze Medallion, RST, driver's licence | 18 | Yearly |
Drone Operator (UAV) | Club member, Radio Operator, CASA ARN & RPA Operator Accreditation, SLS-Drone online module | 16 | Yearly |
SSV Induction | Driver's licence | 17 | None |
WA Training Officer (TO) | — | 16 | 2 years |
WA Assessor (A/C) | WA Training Officer, plus trained two full courses | 18 | 2 years |
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.
Other awards you may hear about
The Observer Award and Rock, Rescue and Retrieval are SLSA awards that are not on the SLSWA member course list above, so their prerequisites and renewal cycles are not published there. Ask the Director of Education if you are interested in either of them.
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.
When is the next course?
Club courses are added to the Club Calendar as they are scheduled, so check there first. If the course you are after is not listed yet, contact the Education team — the club has a separate contact for each award area, listed in 1.3 Getting Involved & Key Contacts. They can tell you when the next intake is planned and note your interest.
7.2
Updated 27 Aug 2026 · Grant
31 December deadline
Every patrolling member must complete their annual Skills Maintenance by 31 December each season. Miss it, and you can't patrol, operate rescue craft, or compete until you're proficient again — this is a national SLSA rule, not a club discretion.
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.
Log in to the SLS Members Hub at hub.sls.com.au
Go to Application > eLearning in the top menu
Click the red "Login to eLearning" button
Select "Training Event" from the left menu and browse the calendar for an available session
Select your session and click "Enrol"
Pre-enrol before you attend
If you're unable to register online, contact proficiency@triggisland.com before attending — the Education team may not be able to accommodate arrivals on the day who haven't pre-registered.
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.
2026/27 Skills Maintenance Requirements
Click here to view the SLSWA 2026/27 Season Skills Maintenance requirements.
7.2.1
Updated 17 Aug 2026 · Grant
All patrolling members must complete an annual skills maintenance check (proficiency) for each award they hold and wish to keep current. Skills maintenance has two parts: an online theory component and an in-person practical check. The online theory must be completed before you attend your practical session.
This section explains how to access the SLS Hub, open the eLearning platform, and complete your online modules.
You will need:
A current, financial membership with the club for this season. Your access will not work if your membership is still pending or unpaid.
An SLS Hub account. If you do not have one, go to hub.sls.com.au and select Sign Up.
Access to the email address recorded against your membership, for account verification.
Go to hub.sls.com.au.
Sign in using your existing Members Area username and password.
The first time you log in, you will be prompted to reset your password and verify your account by email. Two factor verification may be requested for the first few logins.
Acknowledge any terms of use messages to reach your dashboard.
If you cannot recall your login details, or you are unsure whether you already have an account, contact the SLS IT Helpdesk rather than creating a duplicate account. Duplicate accounts split your award records and cause delays at assessment time.
From your SLS Hub dashboard, select the Applications tab.
Select the eLearning tile.
Check that your selected state shows as Western Australia, then follow the prompts.
The first time you access eLearning, you will be asked to accept the platform terms and conditions. You will then be redirected to the eLearning platform.
Note: if you hold administrator, trainer or assessor access, you may be logged in as an administrator by default. Click your username in the top right corner and switch accounts to reach your personal Training Library and My Training menus.
Select Training Library from the menu on the left. On a phone, tap the three horizontal bars to open the menu first.
Open the Skills Maintenance course category.
Select Enrol for the course matching each award you hold.
Once enrolled, the course also appears under My Training.
If a course you expect is not listed, check My Training first. If it shows as already allocated, it has either been assigned to you by a trainer or you enrolled in it previously.
Select Start to open the course. If it is a course bundle, select View, then start each module in turn.
Work through every module in the bundle, including the theory questions at the end.
Your progress saves automatically. To resume later, return to My Training.
Important: press the Exit button when you finish a module. If you close the browser without exiting, the module may not record as complete.
The course will show as complete in My Training, and you will receive a confirmation email.
You do not need to print or bring a certificate. Your completion transfers automatically to the SLS Assessing App and is visible to your assessor on the day of your practical check.
If a module still shows as incomplete, reopen it, work to the end, and exit correctly. If the problem persists, contact the SLS IT Helpdesk.
The required modules change each season and depend on the awards you hold. Requirements are set out in the SLSWA Skills Maintenance Requirements circular published before the start of each season, and are summarised by the Education Committee in the season's skills maintenance communications.
As a general guide:
Complete the skills maintenance course for each award you hold and wish to keep current, for example Bronze Medallion, Surf Rescue Certificate, Resuscitation, Advanced Resuscitation Techniques, IRB awards and Radio Operations.
Complete any professional development or awareness modules nominated by SLSA or SLSWA for that season.
If you gained a new award during the current season, you do not need to complete skills maintenance for that award.
If you are unsure which modules apply to you, contact the Club Education Director before enrolling.
Completing the online theory does not make you proficient. You must also attend an in-person skills maintenance session. Depending on how the session is run, you may be asked to register through the Training Event or event enrolment calendar in eLearning, or directly with the club.
Refer to the club's published skills maintenance calendar for session dates.
7.3
Updated 15 Aug 2026 · Content
To enrol in a course, you need to:
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.
7.4
Updated 16 Aug 2026 · Content
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.
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.
You are then a WA Trainer for that award — and you receive a trainer's shirt.
The WA Assessor award works the same way: a general qualification first, then a logbook for each specific award.
You are then a WA Assessor for that award — for example, WA Assessor Bronze Medallion.
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.
Already qualified outside surf?
If you hold a current Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, a B.Ed or similar, you can skip the WA Training Officer and WA Assessor courses. Send a certified copy of your qualification to SLSWA — this applies to both the trainer and assessor pathways.
| Award | Prerequisites | Min. age | Requalification |
|---|---|---|---|
| WA Training Officer (TO) | None | 16 | 2 years |
| WA Assessor (A/C) | WA Training Officer, plus trained two full courses | 18 | 2 years |
| WA Facilitator (FAC) | WA Training Officer and WA Assessor | — | 2 years |
Accreditation is not permanent — it lapses if you do not keep it up. To stay current as a TAF you must:
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.
If your name will not come up in Surfguard
When a Head of Education cannot select you as a trainer or assessor on a course, it is almost always one of three things: you are not accredited in that specific award; you have not completed a TAF Currency Form in the last two years; or you have not been recorded as training or assessing in the last two years. Contact the Director of Education to sort it out before the course, not on the day.
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.
Where to find the paperwork
All logbooks, workbooks, currency forms and course delivery guides are in the SLS Hub Document Library at hub.sls.com.au, under the Surf Life Saving WA section. Use the WA version of a document where one exists. Trigg Island's club code for document naming is TI.
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.
7.5
Updated 16 Aug 2026 · Content
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.
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.
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.