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Fire protection is the most under-benchmarked trade in Australia and the best paid of the four we track in Queensland. Both facts are worth knowing before you write a job ad.
SEEK, refreshed 1 September 2026:
Brisbane's floor is above the national average's midpoint. Melbourne sits high too, in a narrow $5,000 band.
Now compare fire against the other trades in the same city.
Fire is the highest-paid trade on that list, and its floor is $35,000 above the refrigeration floor in the same city.
Three things, and none of them are going away.
Compliance is not optional. Fire systems carry mandated inspection, testing and maintenance schedules under Australian Standards and state legislation. That work happens whether or not the economy is good. Fire technicians are less exposed to construction cycles than almost any other trade.
The accreditation load is heavy. Fire protection work sits under accreditation schemes on top of ordinary trade licensing, and the requirements differ by state and by the type of system. That narrows the pool considerably.
The pool was never large. Fire is not a trade most apprentices choose deliberately. Many technicians arrive from plumbing, electrical or mechanical backgrounds later in their careers, which means the supply pipeline is slower to respond to demand than in the bigger trades.
Budget from the Brisbane figure, not the national one. If you are hiring a fire technician in Queensland and working from a $90,000 national average, you are $20,000 under the local floor. That is not a slow shortlist, that is no shortlist.
Be specific about the systems. "Fire technician" spans sprinkler systems, detection and alarm, passive fire, extinguishers and hydrants, pumps, and special hazard suppression. A technician deep in detection and alarm is not automatically the person for a sprinkler maintenance contract. Picture a shortlist of three, all genuinely qualified fire technicians, none of whom has touched the system type in your building. That is a brief problem, not a market problem.
Check the accreditation against the work, not the title. Fire protection accreditation is scheme-based and state-specific, and it is administered separately from your technician's underlying trade licence. Confirm which accreditation the specific work requires in your state before you shortlist, because it materially changes who is eligible.
And know that your competitors may not have done this. Fire is under-benchmarked precisely because it is a smaller market with less published data. An employer who has actually checked the numbers has an advantage over one still working from a general "trades" figure.
Brisbane is currently the strongest capital-city market in the country for your trade, and fire outpays every other trade in that city. If you are somewhere near the $90,000 national floor, you have a conversation to have.
HJ Recruitment places permanent fire, electrical, plumbing, HVAC and refrigeration and solar tradespeople with Australian employers. If you want a read on what your specific fire role should be paying, ask us.
Sources- SEEK - Fire Technician salary, Australia- SEEK - Fire Technician salary, Brisbane- SEEK - Fire Technician salary, Melbourne
