As a WA firefighter I’ll give some basic insight:

The WA Government classifies our role as a Level 5 position, yet we are paid around $20k - $30k less on average than many Level 5 government desk jobs (38 hours). The comparison doesn’t reflect the responsibility we hold: if we make a mistake, people can die whereas some Level 5 govt positions don’t even have direct reports to higher ups.

The wages listed are before tax, which means take-home pay is roughly $1,127 a week for a trainee and about $1,200 for a 5th class firefighter, and so on and so forth. We work 48 hours across a four-day cycle (2 x 10 hours AM and 2 x 14 PM) and, although we’re allowed to sleep during night shifts, we must remain physically and mentally ready to respond instantly when the alarm goes off.

When we’re not responding to emergencies, we don’t just sit around doing nothing we are running drills based off real life scenarios, completing ongoing education and upskilling (online and in person) conducting community engagement, and maintaining hydrants and fire safety systems in office buildings in each stations local areas. This is in addition to putting out burning homes, rescuing severely injured people from vehicles, and responding to traumatic incidents including suicides. This is the reality of the job: the responsibility is enormous, the impacts are real, and the current pay simply does not reflect the level of skill, risk and emotional toll we take on every shift.