The agreement reached its nominal expiry date on 30 June 2026 and no increase after 4 December 2025 is written into it. It keeps applying until it is replaced.
The ACT Government's agreements page said on 24 September 2026 that 17 of its 18 ACTPS enterprise agreements are being renegotiated. Any new ACT Fire & Rescue agreement may set new rates and back-pay.
ACT firefighter pay 2026 at a glance
Full-time base salaries from 4 December 2025. Tap a table name for every row, or a salary to see it after tax.
| Pay table | Rows | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| Firefighters (Annex A, Table 1.1) | 5 | $90,054 | $114,872 |
| Officers (Annex A, Table 1.1) | 3 | $129,596 | $176,222 |
Which agreement sets ACT firefighter pay
Firefighters employed by ACT Fire & Rescue are paid under the ACT Public Sector ACT Fire & Rescue Enterprise Agreement 2024-2026. The rates below apply from 4 December 2025 and were read from the source on 24 September 2026.
ACT Fire & Rescue pay scale — every classification
Annual full-time base salary before tax and before superannuation. Part-time staff are paid pro rata.
Firefighters (Annex A, Table 1.1)
ACT Fire & Rescue firefighters from recruit (FB1) to Senior Fire Fighter (FB5). Salaries are composite annual amounts that already include shift loading and several allowances.
Officers (Annex A, Table 1.1)
Station Officer and the command ranks.
Every salary links to its take-home figure. Take-home pages exist for every $1,000 up to $150,000 and in wider steps above that, so a salary without a page of its own links to the nearest one.
Recruit firefighter pay
Recruit Firefighters are classified FB1 (Fire Fighter Fourth Class In Training) while completing ACT Fire & Rescue recruit training or the lateral recruit induction program, on $90,054 a year from 4 December 2025.
On completing recruit training, firefighters move to FB2 - Fire Fighter Third Class at $96,475 a year.
Shift penalties, loadings and allowances
Base salary is not the whole of it: firefighters on rotating rosters are paid extra for shift work. In summary, from the ACT Public Sector ACT Fire & Rescue Enterprise Agreement 2024-2026:
- The Annex A salary is a composite wage paid in lieu of base wage, shift loading (including public holidays, weekends and shiftwork), industry allowance, standard overtime, breathing apparatus and vehicle-driving allowances and first aid allowance.
- Firefighters on the 10/14 roster work an average of 42 hours a week over an 8-week cycle: 38 ordinary hours plus 2 overtime hours and 2 accumulated recreation leave hours (clause D2.1).
- For overtime, the hourly rate is the fortnightly rate divided by 86.3240 (Annex A para 3).
Check the instrument for the exact conditions that apply to your roster. Overtime is worked out separately — the overtime pay calculator handles time and a half and double time.
What a ACT firefighter salary is worth after tax
Every salary in the tables links to its take-home figure. Start with take-home pay on $90,000 for the entry rate or take-home pay on $115,000 for the top of the scale. Those figures cover base salary only; shift penalties and allowances are taxed as ordinary income on top.
Employer superannuation is paid on top of these salaries. For your own pay including penalties, a study loan or salary packaging, use the take-home pay calculator or the ACT pay calculator.
What this page does not show
We publish only what we could read from a primary source. These are left off rather than estimated:
- No ACT Fire & Rescue pay increase after 4 December 2025 has been published, so none is shown.
- Allowances not absorbed into the composite salary (for example specialist and higher-duties allowances) are not included.
ACT firefighter pay questions
Firefighter pay in other states
How this page is sourced▼
Every salary on this page was read from the ACT Public Sector ACT Fire & Rescue Enterprise Agreement 2024-2026 or ACT Fire & Rescue’s own published pay table on 24 September 2026, and applies from 4 December 2025. Nothing is estimated, averaged or interpolated. Where the instrument publishes a weekly or fortnightly rate, the annual figure is that rate multiplied out and the published rate is shown in the notes column.
Take-home figures come from the site’s own calculator using ATO rates for the current income year.
Sources & References
- 1ACT Public Sector ACT Fire & Rescue Enterprise Agreement 2024-2026 (approved)— ACT Government — ACTPS Employment Portal (Fair Work Commission approved)
- 2Enterprise Agreements — ACTPS Employment Portal— ACT Government
Last verified: 24 September 2026. Our content is based on the latest information from official Australian government sources.
Anita Bell
AuthorFounder & Senior Bookkeeper
Accountancy degree (2015); certified in Xero, QuickBooks Online, MYOB, Saasu, Zoho and Reckon One
Anita Bell earned her accountancy degree in 2015 and has worked as a senior bookkeeper with Prime Bookkeeping for over 5 years. This built her skills in Australian and New Zealand tax legislation and industry regulations. She is certified in Xero, QuickBooks Online, MYOB, Saasu, Zoho and Reckon One, and works with payroll and rostering software including Gusto, Deputy, Tsheets and KeyPay. She has strong experience in hospitality, building and construction, financial services, real estate, ecommerce, and medical and health services.
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