2026-08-13 10:16:43 +1000
To: Jeremy Rockliff, Premier of Tasmania
Pay Equity for Tasmanian Firefighters
In Tasmania, a trade qualified firefighter is paid significantly less than a trade qualified state service employee.
The government spent 6 months trying to find reasons why a trade qualified firefighter should be paid less than any other government workers with a trade qualification and when they could not find a reasonable angle, they simply said that these kinds of comparisons were "not useful".
In response to firefighters asking to be paid equivalent to other state service employees, the government proposed cutting minimum staffing requirements that would put firefighters and the community at risk.
Firefighters ask for your support in calling on the Premier, Jeremy Rockliff to provide equal pay for equal work and to stop asking firefighters to trade community safety for equal pay.
The government spent 6 months trying to find reasons why a trade qualified firefighter should be paid less than any other government workers with a trade qualification and when they could not find a reasonable angle, they simply said that these kinds of comparisons were "not useful".
In response to firefighters asking to be paid equivalent to other state service employees, the government proposed cutting minimum staffing requirements that would put firefighters and the community at risk.
Firefighters ask for your support in calling on the Premier, Jeremy Rockliff to provide equal pay for equal work and to stop asking firefighters to trade community safety for equal pay.
Why is this important?
Tasmania has a small fire service. It takes 3 years to train a First Class Firefighter and around 10 years to train and develop a Station Officer.
With an aging workforce, TFS will struggle to retain enough Firefighters and Officers to maintain a functioning fire service for the Tasmanian Community.
Whilst this is an emerging concern right now, low pay and conditions will accelerate this issue over the coming decade. If we wait to fix this, community service delivery will be compromised.
With an aging workforce, TFS will struggle to retain enough Firefighters and Officers to maintain a functioning fire service for the Tasmanian Community.
Whilst this is an emerging concern right now, low pay and conditions will accelerate this issue over the coming decade. If we wait to fix this, community service delivery will be compromised.