Skip to main content

VIC Firefighter Salary 2026 — Fire Rescue Victoria Pay Scale

Under the Fire Rescue Victoria — current gross salary pay rates (What you will get in return); underlying instrument: Fire Rescue Victoria Operational Employees Interim Enterprise Agreement 2020, from 15 July 2026 (the date FRV published them; FRV does not say when they took effect), the Recruit Firefighter rate is $58,066 a year and the Qualified Firefighter rate is $90,669.

Official ATO ratesUpdated FY2026-27Free foreverNo signup required
A firefighter in tan gear rolls up a hose beside a red fire truck as smoke drifts over bushland

FRV operational employees are still covered by the Fire Rescue Victoria Operational Employees Interim Enterprise Agreement 2020, which is past its nominal expiry. The agreement's own wage table ends with the 1 May 2019 increase.

A replacement operational agreement has not been made. The United Firefighters' Union applied to the Fair Work Commission for an intractable bargaining declaration in July 2023 (matter B2023/771) and the declaration was made on 4 October 2023; the Commission's case page, last updated 1 May 2026, shows no workplace determination has been published yet.

When a new agreement or determination is made, pay could rise and may be back-dated. The rates here are FRV's own published current rates, not a forecast.

VIC firefighter pay 2026 at a glance

Pay instrument
Fire Rescue Victoria — current gross salary pay rates (What you will get in return); underlying instrument: Fire Rescue Victoria Operational Employees Interim Enterprise Agreement 2020
Employer
Fire Rescue Victoria
Rates in force from
15 July 2026 (the date FRV published them; FRV does not say when they took effect)
Classifications shown
Recruit Firefighter to Qualified Firefighter (5 rows in 1 table)
Checked against the source
24 September 2026
Fire Rescue Victoria pay ranges by table
Pay tableRowsFromTo
Recruit to Qualified Firefighter (FRV published rates)5$58,066$90,669

Fire Rescue Victoria pay scale — every classification

Recruit to Qualified Firefighter (FRV published rates)

FRV's current weekly rates for a career firefighter from the 20-week recruit course to Qualified Firefighter, which takes 36 months' service and a certificate of proficiency.

Fire Rescue Victoria: Recruit to Qualified Firefighter (FRV published rates)
Position levelAnnual salaryNotes
Recruit Firefighter$58,066$1,113.60 per week — during the 20-week training course
Firefighter Level 1$80,959$1,552.63 per week — on completion of the recruit course
Firefighter Level 2$82,457$1,581.36 per week — on completion of 12 months' service and all required modules
Firefighter Level 3$84,139$1,613.62 per week — on completion of 24 months' service and all required modules
Qualified Firefighter$90,669$1,738.86 per week — on completion of 36 months' service and a certificate of proficiency

Recruit firefighter pay

Recruit Firefighters are paid $1,113.60 per week during the 20-week FRV Recruit Course at the FRV Training Academy in Craigieburn (about $58,066 a year).

On finishing the recruit course, firefighters move to Firefighter Level 1 at $1,552.63 per week and keep training on station for three years to become a Qualified Firefighter.

A probationary period applies from the start of the recruit course.

Fire Rescue Victoria penalties, loadings and allowances

  • FRV firefighters work the 10/14 shift system: two day shifts (8am–6pm), then two night shifts (6pm–8am), then four days off, over an eight-day cycle.
  • Firefighters receive nine weeks' rostered annual leave a year, taken in two blocks.

Left off this page

  • The date the current FRV rates took effect is not stated on FRV's page or in the 2020 agreement, so no effective date is given.
  • Senior Firefighter, Leading Firefighter, Station Officer and higher ranks are not published by FRV at current rates. The 2020 agreement shows them only at 1 May 2019 rates, which are out of date, so they are not shown.
  • Allowances, overtime and the Emergency Services Superannuation Scheme contribution are not included.

VIC firefighter pay questions

Fire Rescue Victoria pays a Qualified Firefighter $1,738.86 a week, about $90,669 a year, on its current published rates. Firefighters on the way to qualification earn $1,552.63 (Level 1) to $1,613.62 (Level 3) a week.

A Recruit Firefighter with Fire Rescue Victoria is paid $1,113.60 a week, about $58,066 a year, during the 20-week recruit course. Pay rises to $1,552.63 a week (Firefighter Level 1) once the course is finished.

FRV does not publish current Station Officer rates. The operational agreement's own table stops at 1 May 2019, so we do not show a Station Officer salary for Victoria.

FRV firefighters are still on the Interim Enterprise Agreement 2020, which is past its expiry date. Bargaining for a replacement has gone to the Fair Work Commission as intractable bargaining, and no new determination had been published when we checked on 24 September 2026.

How tax, super and penalties apply to these salaries: Firefighter Pay Australia.

Calculate your take-home pay

Firefighter pay in other states

Fire and Rescue NSWQueensland Fire Department (QFD)SA Metropolitan Fire Service (MFS)Tasmania Fire ServiceACT Fire & RescueNT Fire and Rescue Service
How this page is sourced▼

Read from the Fire Rescue Victoria — current gross salary pay rates (What you will get in return); underlying instrument: Fire Rescue Victoria Operational Employees Interim Enterprise Agreement 2020 on 24 September 2026. A weekly or fortnightly rate in the notes column is the rate as published; where the instrument prints no annual figure, the annual salary is that rate multiplied out.

Sources & References

  1. 1
  2. 2

Last verified: 24 September 2026. Our content is based on the latest information from official Australian government sources.

What to check next

People reading this page usually work these out too.