Your NSW RSA expires after five years: the $50 renewal, the refresher that counts and the 28-day trap that stops your shifts
Renewing a NSW RSA costs $50 and about an hour online. Leave it more than 28 days past expiry and you sit the full course again, and you can't work during the grace period either. The timeline, the costs and how to check your date tonight.
Keeping your NSW RSA alive costs $50 and about an hour online. Leave it 29 days past the expiry date and you're paying $146 to $200 to sit a course you've already passed.
The part most people get wrong is the grace period. Those 28 days after expiry are time to renew, not time to work: you can't serve a drink until the refresher is done.
The short version: your competency card lasts 5 years, and every endorsement on it expires off the earliest one. Reminders come about 90 days out. Renew with the Liquor & Gaming NSW online refresher plus a $50 card fee. A full course with a training provider won't extend a current card. General information only, not legal advice: check Liquor & Gaming NSW before you rely on it.
The renewal timeline, from reminder to full course
| When | What happens | What you can do |
|---|---|---|
| 90 days before expiry | Liquor & Gaming NSW sends email and SMS reminders with links to the refresher | Renew now: refresher, then $50 |
| Expiry date | Your card is no longer current | Stop serving alcohol and working with gaming machines |
| Days 1 to 28 after expiry | Grace period, but only if you did the Service NSW identity check before the card expired | Do the refresher, then go back to work. No shifts until it's done |
| Day 29 onwards | The refresher route closes | Sit the full course for each endorsement with an approved training provider |
Don't count from the day you added your latest ticket. If you got your RSA in March 2022 and added an RCG in March 2025, both run out in March 2027, because all endorsements expire 5 years from the earliest one. Liquor & Gaming NSW says it can't extend an expiry date, so a good excuse won't buy you time.
The refresher is the only thing that renews a current card
Service NSW is blunt: only the Liquor & Gaming online refresher renews your card, and you can't renew a current card by repeating a full course. Book a $199 class three weeks before expiry and your old date still stands. There's no course cost for the refresher, only the card fee.
- Find your reminder email or SMS, which has your renewal number. No reminder? The Service NSW renewal page takes your card holder number, name, birth date and postcode instead.
- Do the online refresher. Service NSW says about 45 minutes per course, while the Liquor & Gaming RSA page says 60 to 90, so allow the longer time. The multiple-choice test needs 100% correct to pass.
- Pay the fee online by Visa or Mastercard.
- Your receipt and interim certificate arrive by email and your digital card updates. The plastic card can take up to 5 weeks, but you don't have to wait for it.
On the fee: the schedule published 17 March 2026 lists $50 for liquor endorsements and $50 for gaming endorsements, including a row for "RCG (with RSA)". It doesn't say whether someone holding both pays once or twice, so check the total at payment. Older pages quoting $35 date from 2016.
The 28-day trap has two parts
First, you can't work during it. Serving without a current RSA endorsement carries a $220 penalty notice for you, or $440 in the Kings Cross and Sydney CBD Entertainment precincts. The licensee who lets you faces $1,100, so a venue that checks will take you off the roster.
Second, it only exists if you did the identity check. That's the trip to Service NSW with 100 points of ID, where they take your photo. If you didn't do it while you held the card, there's no grace period and you go straight to the full course, even on day one. Not sure? Ring Liquor & Gaming NSW on 1300 024 720 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 4pm) before your date, not after.
The grace period gives you time to renew. It gives you no time to work.
What lapsing costs compared with renewing on time
Take a Level 2 casual under the Hospitality Award, where Saturday pays $40.62 an hour, so a 6-hour Saturday is $243.72 before tax. Now assume each slip costs a Saturday shift, and use CBD College's Sydney class prices ($199 for the RSA, $329 for an RSA and RCG package). The shift numbers are our illustration: yours depend on your roster.
| What happened | Fees | Shifts lost | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| RSA renewed before expiry | $50 | $0 | $50 |
| RSA renewed in the grace period, one Saturday missed | $50 | $243.72 | $293.72 |
| RSA lapsed past 28 days, class on a Saturday | $199 | $243.72 | $442.72 |
| RSA and RCG lapsed past 28 days, two Saturdays in class | $329 | $487.44 | $816.44 |
You can shrink the bottom rows. Streamline Training lists its NSW RSA at $146, and a self-paced online course (about 6 hours at Edway) can fit around your shifts. Classroom prices we read on 2 November 2026 were $190 plus a $10 enrolment fee at Sydney Bar School and $195 at Vigil Training College. Liquor & Gaming NSW says a course fee includes your card, and the interim certificate lets you work straight away for 90 days. Even so, the cheapest full course is nearly three times the renewal fee.
Check yours tonight
- Read the date. It's on your card, and your digital card lives in the Service NSW app.
- Fix your contact details. Reminders go to whatever you gave five years ago. The self-service portal needs your card holder number and the phone or email on file; if you've lost both, contact Liquor & Gaming NSW.
- Set your own reminder for 90 days before expiry. No message by then? Liquor & Gaming NSW asks you to contact them, and that's your cue to do it.
- Moving up to licensee or manager? Licensee Training renews your RSA automatically but not your RCG.
- Heading interstate? Your NSW card may not be the document they ask for: see whether your NSW RSA is valid in Queensland and the other states.
A current card, then more shifts
Once your date is sorted, put the card to work. Our guide to casual bar and cafe shifts in Sydney covers where to look. Shiftly is free workforce management for venues with an on-demand staffing network built in, available along the east coast of Australia, so the roster fills itself and workers on the network get offered nearby shifts.
You see the pay before you accept and you get paid fast. Bar shifts need a current RSA, like any bar job. The venue engages you as an independent contractor for each shift, at rates at or above award minimums, plus super. You'll need an ABN, and there's an 8% service fee on your side. Find shifts on Shiftly.
Frequently asked questions
How long do an RSA and RCG last in NSW?
Five years, but not five years each. If you hold both, they expire together, 5 years from the earliest endorsement, so an RCG added later gets a shorter run.
How do I know if my RSA has expired?
Check the expiry date on your competency card or your digital card in the Service NSW app. A missing reminder proves nothing, since it may have gone to an old number or email. If you can't find your card, contact Liquor & Gaming NSW on 1300 024 720.
Can I do the RSA refresher with a training provider?
No. Service NSW says only the refresher Liquor & Gaming provides online can renew your card. Approved training providers run the full course, which you only need if your card has lapsed past the grace period or you never did the identity check.
What if my RSA expired more than 28 days ago?
You need the full course for each endorsement with a Liquor & Gaming NSW approved training provider. You can't serve until you've passed, and once you have, the interim certificate covers you for 90 days of work.
Co-founder of Shiftly. Milan works with hospitality businesses across Australia to make rostering, timesheets and award-based pay radically simpler.
