Your Mental Health First Aid® Australia (MHFA™) Instructor License Agreement sets out the specified maximum participants for online and face-face delivery of courses. The Instructor Agreement specifies a maximum of 24 in each face-to-face course and 12 in each online course. The minimum participant allowance in both delivery methods is 6 participants.
Please note, the minimum and maximum numbers are to be followed in all instances, except where:
- prior approval is sought and obtained from MHFAI (and MHFAI will be reasonably flexible where circumstances warrant), or
- when enrolled participants withdraw in the two weeks preceding the course start date (in such circumstances, the absolute minimum is 2 participants)
These maximum and minimum participant numbers have been set for several reasons:
- to improve the quality of the training by allowing optimal interaction within the group and to support activities that are designed for pairs and triads;
- to enable better management of the psychological and physical safety of individuals and the group; and
- to optimise the achievement of the learning outcomes.
We do understand there are exceptional circumstances where Instructors need to deliver courses outside these guidelines, and these instances my occur after your session has been delivered. Please reach out to our Australian Program Delivery Specialists with detailed reasons as to why requirements were not able to be met.
This is especially important with groups where the Instructor-led component occurs online.
If you have a large course planned, we encourage you to consider the educational advantage of running two courses with fewer participants in lieu of one larger one. We understand that clients often prefer larger groups so they may train the maximum number of staff at once, however, higher numbers generally lead to poorer outcomes so it is in your client's best interest to follow your advice.
The table below summaries the available courses and the recommended minimum and the maximum numbers allowed, and the presentation length of each course. For 4+ hour courses, consider adding upwards of an hour for a substantial break midway.