The short answer
Fitness compliance is mostly per instructor: the qualification, the industry registration, first aid and CPR, insurance, and a Working With Children Check where you run kids' or teen classes. The studio itself carries public liability, equipment inspections, pre-exercise screening records and music licensing. The business risk is members: the churn happens quietly, and the cheapest fix is a list of who hasn't attended in 14 days.
Instructors
Each instructor's qualification (Certificate III/IV in Fitness, Pilates or yoga teacher training with the hours the studio's insurer accepts), registration with an industry body such as AUSactive where you require it, with its renewal date (12- or 24-month terms) and, at Accredited level, CPD points (20 over two rolling years), first aid (HLTAID011, treated as current for three years) and CPR (HLTAID009, annually), professional indemnity and public liability where they hold their own as contractors, and WWCC (five years in NSW) if they teach under-18s. Contractor instructors also need an ABN, their own insurance certificate and a written agreement.
The studio
Public liability and contents insurance. Pre-exercise screening (the industry's Adult Pre-Exercise Screening System or equivalent) completed and stored for every member, and re-done when health changes. Equipment: inspection and service records on anything with a cable, a motor or a spring, and reformer maintenance. Emergency plan, defibrillator service dates if you hold one, and first aid kit checks. Music: OneMusic licence covering classes and the floor. Council: use approvals for the premises and any change-of-use. Lease option and rent review dates as for any premises.
Members
The signals: members with no visit in 14 and 30 days, direct debit failures, memberships due to expire this month, trial conversions, class fill rates by time slot, and instructor utilisation. The membership platform (Mindbody, Glofox, Momence, Clubworx and the like) knows all of this; almost nobody looks at it daily.
Where it usually slips
A CPR certificate that lapsed for an instructor who runs the 6am class. A contractor whose insurance was never collected. Screening forms in a drawer for half the members. Thirty members who quietly stopped coming in June and cancelled in August. A OneMusic notice.
What the register and the board hold
The register: one row per instructor per item, plus studio rows for insurance, equipment, screening review, music licence and lease, with warnings at 90, 60 and 30 days and a phone form for instructors to upload a new certificate. The board: today's classes and fill rates, members at risk (no visit in 14 days), failed payments, expiring memberships, cash and outgoings, and the compliance warnings. The morning check names the three members to message today.
Where a spreadsheet stops being enough
A Sheets or Excel register is right for a studio up to about 20 instructors and two sites. The member side belongs in the membership platform; the board reads its export. Multi-site franchises usually have compliance tooling from the franchisor.
Quick answers
How often does CPR need renewing for instructors?
Annually (HLTAID009), even though the first aid certificate (HLTAID011) is treated as current for three years.
Do contractor instructors need their own insurance?
Usually yes: their own professional indemnity and public liability, an ABN and a written agreement, with the certificate collected and dated in the studio's register.
What is the earliest sign a member is about to cancel?
No visit in 14 days. A daily list of members with no attendance in 14 and 30 days is the cheapest retention tool a studio has.
What Stewart Systems builds for this industry, level by level →
Written by Christian Stewart, Stewart Systems, Wollongong. Published 2026-09-29. This is a records-and-flags view for business owners; it is not legal, WHS, food safety or insurance advice, and requirements change, so check the regulator named above for the current rule.
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