CA25 was certified by the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission on 14 April 2026 and replaced the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services Certified Agreement 2022. Its nominal expiry date is 31 July 2028.
The 2026 State Wage Case raised award wages by 4.75% from 1 September 2026. Because CA25 guarantees no employee is paid below the award base rate, several lower pay points now sit on the award rate rather than the CA25 rate. QFD had not published an updated table for 1 September 2026 when we checked.
A CPI Uplift Adjustment for the year from 1 August 2026 (CUA period 2) is triggered only if the March 2027 Brisbane CPI exceeds 2.5% (capped at 1%). Any such adjustment would be back-paid.
QLD firefighter pay 2026 at a glance
Full-time base salaries from 1 August 2026 (award-floor rows from 1 September 2026). Tap a table name for every row, or a salary to see it after tax.
| Pay table | Rows | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| Firefighters (CA25 Schedule 1, base rates) | 11 | $59,730 | $84,494 |
| Leading Firefighters and Station Officers (CA25 Schedule 1, base rates) | 11 | $86,140 | $104,942 |
Which agreement sets QLD firefighter pay
Firefighters employed by Queensland Fire Department (QFD) are paid under the Queensland Fire Department Certified Agreement 2025. The rates below apply from 1 August 2026 (award-floor rows from 1 September 2026) and were read from the source on 24 September 2026.
Next scheduled increase: 1 August 2027. A further 2.5% under CA25 clause 23, already printed in QFD's wage table: Recruit $2,297.67, Firefighter $2,744.59, Senior Firefighter PP4 $3,321.90 and Station Officer 3 PP3 $4,125.81 per fortnight (base). A CPI Uplift Adjustment of up to 1% may also be added if Brisbane CPI exceeds 2.5%. Where a future State Wage Case lifts the award minimum above a CA25 rate, the award rate applies instead.
Queensland Fire Department (QFD) pay scale — every classification
Annual full-time base salary before tax and before superannuation. Part-time staff are paid pro rata.
Firefighters (CA25 Schedule 1, base rates)
Career firefighters from recruit to Senior Firefighter. Progression to First Class Firefighter is compulsory; Senior Firefighter is optional. Pay points within each rank are reached by time served (1 year per point, 4 years at Senior Firefighter PP2).
| Classification / pay point | Annual salary | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Recruit | $59,730 | $2,291.00 per fortnight — award minimum from 1 Sep 2026 (CA25 rate $2,241.63 is lower) |
| Firefighter PP1 (including temporary Firefighter) | $71,331 | $2,736.00 per fortnight — award minimum from 1 Sep 2026 (CA25 rate $2,677.65 is lower) |
| Firefighter PP2 | $71,331 | $2,736.00 per fortnight — award minimum from 1 Sep 2026 (CA25 rate $2,677.65 is lower) |
| First Class Firefighter PP1 | $76,702 | $2,942.00 per fortnight — award minimum from 1 Sep 2026 (CA25 rate $2,879.21 is lower) |
| First Class Firefighter PP2 | $76,702 | $2,942.00 per fortnight — award minimum from 1 Sep 2026 (CA25 rate $2,879.21 is lower) |
| First Class Firefighter PP3 | $76,702 | $2,942.00 per fortnight — award minimum from 1 Sep 2026 (CA25 rate $2,905.99 is lower) |
| First Class Firefighter PP4 | $76,900 | $2,949.58 per fortnight — CA25 rate from 1 Aug 2026 |
| Senior Firefighter PP1 | $81,004 | $3,107.00 per fortnight — award minimum from 1 Sep 2026 (CA25 rate $3,054.44 is lower) |
| Senior Firefighter PP2 | $81,004 | $3,107.00 per fortnight — award minimum from 1 Sep 2026 (CA25 rate $3,085.00 is lower) |
| Senior Firefighter PP3 | $83,245 | $3,192.98 per fortnight — CA25 rate from 1 Aug 2026 |
| Senior Firefighter PP4 | $84,494 | $3,240.88 per fortnight — CA25 rate from 1 Aug 2026 |
Leading Firefighters and Station Officers (CA25 Schedule 1, base rates)
Leading Firefighter (reached after the Station Officer training program) and the three Station Officer levels, each with its own pay points.
| Classification / pay point | Annual salary | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Leading Firefighter PP1 | $86,140 | $3,304.00 per fortnight — award minimum from 1 Sep 2026 (CA25 rate $3,260.00 is lower) |
| Leading Firefighter PP2 | $86,268 | $3,308.92 per fortnight — CA25 rate from 1 Aug 2026 |
| Station Officer 1 PP1 | $95,010 | $3,644.21 per fortnight — CA25 rate from 1 Aug 2026 |
| Station Officer 1 PP2 | $95,959 | $3,680.64 per fortnight — CA25 rate from 1 Aug 2026 |
| Station Officer 1 PP3 | $97,399 | $3,735.86 per fortnight — CA25 rate from 1 Aug 2026 |
| Station Officer 2 PP1 | $97,443 | $3,737.55 per fortnight — CA25 rate from 1 Aug 2026 |
| Station Officer 2 PP2 | $98,417 | $3,774.91 per fortnight — CA25 rate from 1 Aug 2026 |
| Station Officer 2 PP3 | $99,893 | $3,831.53 per fortnight — CA25 rate from 1 Aug 2026 |
| Station Officer 3 PP1 | $102,369 | $3,926.47 per fortnight — CA25 rate from 1 Aug 2026 |
| Station Officer 3 PP2 | $103,391 | $3,965.69 per fortnight — CA25 rate from 1 Aug 2026 |
| Station Officer 3 PP3 | $104,942 | $4,025.18 per fortnight — CA25 rate from 1 Aug 2026 |
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
Recruits are paid a base rate of $2,291.00 per fortnight from 1 September 2026 — the award minimum, which is higher than the CA25 recruit rate of $2,241.63 from 1 August 2026. That is about $59,730 a year before shift allowances.
The award sets the Recruit stage at 16 weeks, followed by 32 months as a Firefighter and 12 months as a First Class Firefighter before Senior Firefighter.
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 Queensland Fire Department Certified Agreement 2025:
- Firefighters on the 10/14 continuous shift roster (the recognised continuous shift roster under CA25 clause 49) are also paid a weekend shift allowance of 21.43% of base rate (clause 73) and a night shift allowance of 6.45% of base rate (clause 72).
- A 38-hour week allowance is paid fortnightly in lieu of reducing ordinary hours from 40 to 38: (base + weekend + night shift) ÷ 76 × 4 (clause 74). It is superannuated (clause 75).
- Firefighters and Station Officers in specified operational day-staff positions (for example roster, planning and building approval officers) receive a 2.5% Special Flexibility Allowance on base rate for normal hours worked, in compensation for the flexibility required.
- With those allowances, QFD's table shows a total of $3,017.35 per fortnight for a Recruit and $4,362.38 for a Senior Firefighter PP4 from 1 August 2026 (before the 1 September 2026 award-floor adjustment).
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 QLD firefighter salary is worth after tax
Every salary in the tables links to its take-home figure. Start with take-home pay on $60,000 for the entry rate or take-home pay on $84,000 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 QLD 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:
- Rows marked 'award minimum from 1 Sep 2026' apply CA25 clause 8(6) to the award's printed minimum; QFD has not yet published its own post-1 September 2026 wage table confirming these rows.
- The CUA for 1 August 2026 is not yet known, so it is not included.
- Rural Fire Service, Fire Communications and Senior Officer (Inspector and above) classifications are not shown.
QLD firefighter pay questions
Firefighter pay in other states
How this page is sourced▼
Every salary on this page was read from the Queensland Fire Department Certified Agreement 2025 or Queensland Fire Department (QFD)’s own published pay table on 24 September 2026, and applies from 1 August 2026 (award-floor rows from 1 September 2026). 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
- 1Queensland Fire Department Certified Agreement 2025 (CB/2026/32)— Queensland Industrial Relations Commission
- 2CURRENT - Wages table (QFD CA25 wage tables, SWC uplift, effective as at 1 September 2025)— Queensland Fire Department
- 3Queensland Fire Department Certified Agreement 2025 (CA25) — bargaining updates and key documents— Queensland Fire Department
- 4Queensland Fire and Emergency Service Employees Award – State 2016, reprint effective 1 September 2026 (clause 12.4)— Queensland Industrial Relations Commission
- 5Declaration of General Ruling (State Wage Case 2026)— Queensland Industrial Relations Commission
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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