NSW to provide hospitality refresher courses amid staff shortages

27 June 2022

NSW to provide hospitality refresher courses amid staff shortages

Gaming compliance in New South Wales
This might affect the state's gaming business, which is already bracing for a scarcity of workers after the COVID-19 outbreak drove many employees away.

"Many who left the sector have seen their mandatory certifications lapse," stated Kevin Anderson, minister for hospitality and racing in New South Wales. "Our goal is to eliminate any obstacles that may be keeping those individuals from returning to the hospitality industry by making it simple and free for them to renew their certifications."

According to Anderson, the purpose of the refresher training is to keep employees in the alcohol and gambling businesses well-trained.

Everyone who works or volunteers in establishments that sell alcohol, including security, crowd control, and promotional staff, is required to get a Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA) certificate, he added. You need to receive specific training to identify and minimise gambling harm if you operate around poker machines. The same goes for the Responsible Conduct of Gambling (RCG) certificate.

The director of spirits and policing for the Australian Hotels Association NSW, John Green, expressed gratitude to the minister for the effort.

We would particularly encourage older workers to walk back behind the bar with their years of knowledge, and reducing red tape makes it easier for individuals who worked in the sector to come back and pick up a few shifts at their local', Green added.

According to the Authority, more than 16,000 individuals have taken advantage of the free RSA and RCG refresher courses offered since February.

The New South Wales government announced last week that the state's consumption tax would be raised to 15%.