Firefighter
Firefighters respond to fires, car crashes, hazardous material spills and medical emergencies, usually as part of a crew based at a fire station.
- Median salary
- $128,600
4.3%vs last year, before tax
- People employed
- 13,300
1.5%vs last year
- Projected growth
- +11.4%
to 2035
- AI exposure*
- Low
- 3 out of 10
- Average hours
- 47/wk
+7h vs all jobs
- Shortage status
- Not in shortage
national
- You work from a fire station as part of a set crew, turning out whenever the alarm goes, and most calls turn out to be car crashes, medical emergencies or hazardous spills.
- Most career firefighters are employed by a state or territory fire authority on rotating shifts that cover weekends, public holidays and night work, while volunteer brigades cover much of regional and rural Australia.
- It differs from the State Emergency Service, whose volunteers deal mainly with storm and flood damage, while firefighters handle fire suppression and structural rescue.
How much do firefighters earn?
The median full-time salary for a firefighter is $128,600 per annum, before tax, up $27,100 since 2018.
Your pay comes from an enterprise agreement negotiated by your state or territory fire service, so rank, years of service and the technical allowances you qualify for move it most. Shift penalties and public holiday rates sit on top of the base rate, and some services fold those into the advertised figure while others quote base salary alone, so ask which one you are being offered.
What does a firefighter do day to day?
The list below is what fills most weeks; the exact mix shifts with seniority and whatever stage the current work is at.
- Suiting up in protective clothing and breathing apparatus within minutes of an alarm sounding
- Operating pumps, hoses and hydraulic rescue tools at whatever the call turns out to be
- Attending car crashes, medical calls and hazardous material spills far more often than structure fires
- Testing breathing apparatus, hoses and thermal imaging cameras, and running rescue drills between callouts
- Living, eating and training alongside the same crew through shifts that can run 24 hours
What skills do firefighters need?
Employers look for emergency response, worksite safety management, backed by Fire hoses and nozzles fluency and strong safety and compliance awareness.
Specialist skills
- Emergency response
- Worksite safety management
Software and tools
- Fire hoses and nozzles
- Breathing apparatus (SCBA)
- Hydraulic rescue tools
- Thermal imaging cameras
- Incident management software
General skills
- Safety and compliance awareness
- Physical stamina and dexterity
- Problem solving
- Written communication
- Attention to detail
Is the job growing?
About 13,300 people work as firefighters in Australia, and employment is projected to grow 11.4% over the decade to 2035. That's healthy, above-average growth, and the role should stay in solid demand.
How do you become a firefighter?
Here's the path most firefighters take, step by step.
- 1Build your fitness well past the entry standard
Every service runs a beep test, grip and upper body strength checks, and a full medical before you get near a training ground. Give yourself six to twelve months, because the standard is set at a level you cannot cram for.
- 2Apply through a recruitment round at a state or territory fire service
Selection usually includes aptitude and literacy testing, interviews, a physical assessment and referee checks. No previous firefighting experience is needed, but rounds run every year or two in most states and attract large numbers of applicants.
- 3Complete paid recruit training
Recruits train for around 12 to 16 weeks at the service's own college, covering fire behaviour, breathing apparatus, rescue, hazardous materials and community safety. Most services put you through a Certificate III in Public Safety (Firefighting Operations) as part of it.
- 4Work a probationary year on station
You rotate through watches under supervision, and confirmation at the end depends on assessments, incident performance and keeping your fitness up. Probation is also where the shift work and the trauma of real jobs get tested.
- 5Consider the volunteer route first
In regional and rural areas, brigades such as the Country Fire Authority in Victoria and the NSW Rural Fire Service train volunteers, and some services expect you to hold a volunteer background. It is a real way to test the work before committing to a career application.
Ready to apply as a firefighter?
Whether you're working toward becoming a firefighter or already are one and want a hand with the next step (sharpening your resume for ATS screening, tightening your cover letter, or knowing what you'll actually be asked at interview), here are examples grounded in this specific role, not generic templates.
What jobs can a firefighter move to?
None of the roles firefighters typically move into pay more than the role itself. Emergency Management Officer is the closest match. If a bigger salary is the goal, moving up into a senior or principal position within the role is usually the faster route than moving sideways.
- Emergency Management OfficerRecorded move$128,600same pay
- Work Health and Safety InspectorRecorded move$123,900−$4,700
- Park RangerRecorded move$101,600−$27,000
- Fire Protection TechnicianRecorded move$83,200−$45,400
Thick lines are moves people were recorded making in Jobs and Skills Australia's Data on Occupation Mobility (income tax records, 2011-12 to 2020-21). Thin lines are moves we suggest from skill overlap and entry requirements.
| Move to | Typical pay change | Overlap | Retraining |
|---|---|---|---|
Emergency Management Officer Firefighters bring incident command, emergency response and coordination experience to emergency management officer roles, with a short course covering planning.Known move | +$0 | 24% | short course |
Work Health and Safety Inspector Firefighters bring hazard assessment, safety training and incident investigation skills to work health and safety inspector roles, though regulatory study is needed.Known move | −$4,700 | 12% | reskill |
Public Relations Officer Firefighters bring public safety communication and community engagement experience to public relations roles, though media writing and campaign skills require study. | −$22,200 | 15% | reskill |
Park Ranger Firefighters bring outdoor emergency response, hazard reduction and public safety skills to park ranger roles, with further study in conservation.Known move | −$27,000 | 23% | reskill |
Fire Protection Technician Firefighters bring fire behaviour, safety systems and emergency response knowledge to fire protection technician work, though trade certification and systems training are needed.Known move | −$45,400 | 19% | reskill |
Moves are chosen from Jobs and Skills Australia's Data on Occupation Mobility, which follows income tax records between 2011-12 and 2020-21, together with entry requirements and skill overlap. A known move is one people were seen making in that data. Pay change compares median full-time pay for the two roles.
Who works as a firefighter?
The typical firefighter is 43 years old; 92% are men, 93% work full-time, and full-timers average 47 hours a week.
- 43
- Median age
- 8%
- Female share
- 93%
- Full-time
- +7h
- vs all-jobs avg
What's it like being a firefighter?
Your shift is mostly station life with long quiet stretches, then a call that has you moving in under two minutes. The quiet hours go on gear checks, drills and cooking with the crew, and the busy ones mean carrying heavy protective clothing into heat, smoke or a wrecked car. The bond with the watch is real, and so is the weight of the jobs you cannot fix: fatalities, injured children, and calls that come back to you days later. If you want to be useful in a tight team and can stay steady while someone is having the worst day of their life, the work tends to hold you; if a predictable clock and uninterrupted sleep matter more to you, the roster is the hardest thing to live with.
What people like
- A crew you can rely on. You train, eat and sleep in the same station as the same watch, and that closeness shows on scene, where you trust the person checking your air.
- No two shifts alike. One day might bring a kitchen fire, a chemical spill on a highway and a rescue from a wrecked car, so the work rarely feels repetitive.
- Blocks of time away from work. The roster can give you four days off after a set of shifts, which leaves room for study, a trade or a young family in a way few jobs allow.
- Skills that transfer. Rescue, first aid, hazardous materials handling and incident command are useful well beyond the fire service, so leaving stays a real option when the physical side catches up with you.
What people find hard
- Quiet shifts drag. Between calls the station still needs cleaning, equipment tested and drills run, and some shifts stay quiet from start to finish.
- The worst jobs stay with you. Fatalities, badly injured children and calls involving people you know are hard to put down, and services run peer support and counselling because the toll builds over years.
- The roster sets your life. Birthdays, weekends and Christmas are worked on rotation, and sleeping through the day to recover from a night shift does not suit everyone.
- Your body pays for it. Protective clothing and breathing apparatus add serious weight, and heat, smoke, noise and lifting wear down backs, knees and hearing over a long career.
Based on our synthesis of professional-body surveys and public accounts of the role, not first-person verified reviews.
Which industries employ firefighters?
Public Administration and Safety employs the largest share of firefighters.
Top employing industries
- 1Public Administration and Safety
Ranked by employment share; the source doesn't publish an exact percentage per industry.
| Certificate III/IV | 39.5% | |
|---|---|---|
| Diploma / Advanced Diploma | 18.9% | |
| Bachelor degree | 15.8% | |
| Year 12 or below | 14.7% | |
| Postgraduate | 5.2% |
Will AI replace firefighters?
Low exposure. Unlikely. AI will change some of the work around this job, not the job itself.
Very little of this work can be handed to software, because the calls that matter happen in heat, smoke and unstable buildings where conditions shift faster than a model can track. Dispatch already chooses which crew goes, and floor plans and thermal imaging readings are pushed to the truck, yet those tools supply information to the people inside instead of replacing them. A recruit who learns the incident reporting and pre-incident planning platforms on station will find that side of the paperwork much lighter.
How a typical week splits
- Incident reporting, pre-incident planning and dispatch information20% of the week
Writing up an incident, updating plans for local factories and schools, and reading dispatch notes are the tasks where software already does much of the drafting.
- Station checks, hose and breathing apparatus testing20% of the week
Breathing apparatus, hoses and hydraulic tools are tested on a schedule and rostering software decides which watch is on, but the testing itself stays hands-on.
- Firefighting, search and rescue on scene35% of the week
You crawl a smoke-filled room on your stomach to find someone, reading conditions through a thermal imaging camera, and no software makes that call for you.
- Medical response and patient care25% of the week
Most callouts are medical, so you are assessing a patient, starting CPR or handing over to paramedics at the roadside.
How we work this out
We break each job into its main tasks, estimate the share of a typical week each one takes, and judge how far current AI and automation tools reach into it. The score out of 10 starts from the job's overall rating (low is 1 to 3, moderate 4 to 6, high 7 to 10) and the task split places it within that range. Source: Career Tips analysis of each role's main tasks.
Common questions about becoming a firefighter
Straight answers to the questions people ask most.
How much do firefighters earn in Australia?
Full-time firefighters earn a median of $128,600 per year before tax, and rank, years of service and shift penalties move that figure most. When a service quotes a salary, ask whether it includes loadings for evening, weekend and public holiday shifts or is base pay only.
How do you become a firefighter?
Apply to a state or territory fire service and pass its fitness, aptitude and medical checks, then complete paid recruit training of around 12 to 16 weeks before a probationary year on station. No prior firefighting experience is required, so the useful thing to do now is get your fitness comfortably past the entry standard.
Are firefighters in demand in Australia?
Employment for firefighters is projected to grow 11.4% over the decade to 2035, and the occupation is currently not in shortage. Recruitment runs in rounds, so check the intake dates each service publishes and apply when a campaign opens instead of waiting for a permanent advertisement.
Will AI replace firefighters?
Very little of it. Judging whether a roof is safe to vent or a room is too hot to enter happens in seconds and rests on what you can hear, see and feel, so the equipment sends information to the crew inside. Recruit training covers the reporting systems, so you do not need to arrive with software skills; your fitness and your ability to work in a team count for far more.
What other jobs can firefighters move into?
Emergency management officer suits the coordination side of the role, with a short course covering the planning work, and pay is about the same. Work health and safety inspector draws on the same hazard assessment and incident investigation experience, though regulatory study comes with it, and pay is $4,700 less.
What are firefighter shift hours like?
Rosters vary between services, but a common pattern is two day shifts, two night shifts and then four days off. Firefighters work an average of 47 hours a week, and public holidays, weekends and nights all appear on the roster.
Related roles
- Work Health and Safety Inspector
- Emergency Management Officer
- Fire Protection Technician
- Park Ranger
- Public Relations Officer
- Defence Force Member
Not sure this is you? Take the career quiz and get a ranked shortlist of roles that fit how you like to work.
Career advice
- Stress leave is really sick leave, and how to use itStress leave in Australia is taken as paid sick leave. What to tell your employer, what evidence they can ask for, and what to do if it runs out.
- How to change careers, and which moves are realisticData on 1,573 career moves across 350 Australian occupations shows 63.3% need no more than a short course, though skill overlap alone won't tell you which ones. Six worked examples, and how to check your own move.
- Skills to put on your resume (with skills finder)A resume skills section built for the job you're applying for. Search your occupation to see the specialist skills, tools and general skills it calls for, with worked examples and what to write if you have no work history yet.