F.A.S.T. Training Australia Wins the Training Experience and Innovation Award

Sarah Shaw and F.A.S.T. Training Australia have been recognised with the Training Experience and Innovation Award in the Allens Training Partner Awards, celebrating an approach to training that puts engagement, relevance and the learner experience at the centre of everything they do.

For Sarah, the award is validation of a philosophy that has guided F.A.S.T. Training Australia from the very beginning: training doesn’t have to be boring.

“Honestly, it means everything,” Sarah says. “It validates every decision we have made to do things differently, to prioritise the student experience over the path of least resistance, and to keep evolving even when the easier option was to stay put.”

From Enduring Training to Experiencing It

Sarah’s motivation came partly from her own experiences sitting through first aid courses that struggled to keep learners engaged.

When she established F.A.S.T. Training Australia, the motto “No boring stories, guaranteed” wasn’t simply a catchy marketing line. It was a promise.

Sarah recognised that engagement in first aid training has a much bigger purpose than making a course enjoyable.

“If a student is not engaged, they are not retaining,” she explains. “In first aid, that gap between sitting in a room and actually being able to save a life is the whole point.”

That thinking has shaped an approach where training is practical, relevant and designed around the people in the room.

Innovation That Starts With Listening

One of Sarah’s proudest innovations began with a conversation with a group of school mums concerned about their Year 12 children heading to Schoolies.

Rather than delivering a generic first aid session, F.A.S.T. developed training around situations the students could realistically encounter.

“We don’t tell young people what not to do,” Sarah says. “We give them strategies for what to do when things go wrong.”

What began as one targeted session has since developed into a broader range of youth mental health and safety workshops, delivered from pre-kindy through to Year 12 and including programs for disengaged young people.

It demonstrates a recurring theme behind F.A.S.T.’s success: listen to the problem first, then build the training around what people actually need.

Creating Training People Remember

The results speak loudly. F.A.S.T. Training Australia has accumulated more than 650 five-star Google reviews, but Sarah says some of the most meaningful feedback happens away from review platforms.

Teachers have welcomed trainers back to schools with cheers and applause. Mine-site emergency response teams have commented on training being genuinely specific to their workplace. Nervous participants have left sessions feeling equipped and confident, while initially disengaged young people have finished wanting to know when the trainers are coming back.

“When training lands, you feel it in the room,” Sarah says.

Innovation Doesn't Have to Be Complicated

For Sarah, innovation isn't necessarily about expensive technology or completely reinventing training. Sometimes it means asking a better question, creating a more relevant scenario or having the confidence to change something that is no longer working.

Her advice to other trainers is simple: start with the student, not the content.

“Ask yourself honestly: if I were sitting in this room, would I be engaged? If the answer is no, something needs to change.”

Just as importantly, Sarah believes innovation depends on the people delivering it. F.A.S.T. hires for connection and genuine care, then invests in building strong trainer relationships and open communication.

“You can teach someone to deliver first aid, but you cannot teach them to genuinely care about the person in front of them.”

It is a philosophy that captures why F.A.S.T. Training Australia is a deserving recipient of the Training Experience and Innovation Award: great training isn't simply about what you teach. It's about creating an experience that helps people learn, remember and feel confident enough to act when it really matters.