FIFO Driller's Offsider Jobs
A man who had never worked in mining took an offsiding job, and two and a half years later he was sitting at the console as a driller, on even time instead of the four-week swing he started on. He told the story online. The road is open to anyone with a manual licence, work rights and a body that will take it, and the ads say so in large type. The small type is the price: the rods, the heat and the driller you draw. If you want one of the best paid no-experience doors into FIFO, this is it.
What a FIFO driller's offsider is
A FIFO driller's offsider is the driller's assistant on a drill rig: rods, samples, fluids, fuel and cleaning, so the rig never stops. The ads also call it drillers assistant or labourer.
FIFO driller's offsider jobs: Where to start
- No experience, no ticketsStart here
- Have an HR (heavy rigid) licenceStart here
- Not in WAStart here
- What the money really isStart here
- The harsh realityStart here
- Want to be a drillerStart here
Find FIFO driller's offsider jobs
Search drillers offsider FIFO on SEEK (opens in a new tab), driller offsider FIFO on Indeed (opens in a new tab) and Jora's FIFO offsider search (opens in a new tab). The titles mix drillers offsider, assistant, labourer and FIFO in any order, and also run as "RC offsider" (RC is reverse circulation), "diamond offsider" and "drilling traineeship".
Before you apply, check where each ad's flights leave from, called the point of hire. Getting there is usually up to you.
FIFO driller's offsider jobs at a glance
| Pay | $36 to $56 an hour, middle $43; salaried $120,000 to $190,000 a year, middle $130,000 |
|---|---|
| Rosters | 2:1 (two weeks on, one off) on most ads; 3:1 and 4:2 on many agency ads; a few longer or on even time |
| Flies from | Perth for most, and several ads want WA residents; some from Brisbane; two contractors fly from capital cities too |
| You'll need | A manual licence, HR preferred; police clearance; a medical and drug screen after the offer |
| Experience | None on most ads; some want manual labour behind you |
| Who hires | Drilling contractors (DDH1, Ranger and many smaller firms) and the agencies recruiting for them (Aston Advantage, True Resources, Niche, LH Partners) |
Pay from the job ads of 12 October 2026; listings checked October 2026, with some September ads.
Can you get a FIFO driller's offsider job with no experience?
Short answer
A FIFO driller's offsider job is open with no experience: most October 2026 ads said so, and several were paid traineeships, meaning a job and a drilling certificate in one. What they asked for instead was a licence, a medical and hard physical work somewhere else.
"No Experience Required", "no tickets needed" and "Full training provided" all ran in October 2026 ads, and DDH1's were headed "Entry Level Traineeships": a paid job with a Certificate II in Drilling Operations, which DDH1 pays for. The catch is the visa. Aston Advantage's October ad wanted Australian citizens or permanent residents, DDH1's traineeships Australian or New Zealand residents, and Niche's ruled out working holiday visa holders.
The bar the ads did set was hard work: DDH1 wanted manual labour experience, and in September one agency asked for "1 year recent hard labour experience". Farming, construction and other heavy labour count, because the question is whether you will still be working at two in the afternoon in February.
Entry level drillers offsider FIFO ads: a manual licence, and HR if you can
The contractors' ads asked for a licence, and most named the HR, the heavy rigid truck licence, because the offsider drives the support truck and the water cart between holes. One contractor's said "HR-B Minimum License Required" and DDH1's wanted one before you start, while Niche's said "No truck licence? No worries!" and offered to help you get it. A manual car licence is the floor on the ads that said, and the tickets page has where to get the HR.
How do you become a FIFO driller's offsider, step by step?
Short answer
You become a FIFO driller's offsider by getting the licences the ads name, then a start with a drilling contractor, often as a paid trainee. Most of the work flies from Perth.
From no experience, in WA
- Check your visa first: the ads that mentioned it wanted Australian citizenship or permanent residency, with New Zealanders welcome at DDH1, and one agency turned working holiday makers away (the visa catch).
- Get a car licence that covers manuals, a police check and a first aid certificate (the drilling contractors wanted one). Every course asks for your USI (Unique Student Identifier), a free number you make online.
- Get an HR licence if you can: most ads named it, since offsiders drive the rig's support truck (why the HR).
- Base yourself in WA, near Perth, since several ads wanted WA residents; DDH1 was one contractor flying trainees from other capitals (where they fly from).
- Lead your resume with your hardest outdoor work, such as farming, construction or labouring.
- Apply to the drillers and their recruiters (who hires), and phone the drilling offices too, not just the online form. Ads headed traineeship are paid jobs with the drilling certificate built in.
- Once you're offered a start, the contractor books the medical and drug test and the inductions, and a traineeship adds the drilling certificate.
- On site, ask for a grade control rig on a mine if you can choose: it comes with a camp room, while exploration can mean a swag (which rig).
Outside WA
Outside WA, the Queensland ads fly from Brisbane (the Brisbane page), and one Tasmanian contractor took starters from any capital. On a Queensland coal mine, Standard 11 comes first.
How do FIFO driller's offsider jobs work, and who hires?
Short answer
FIFO driller's offsiders are hired by drilling contractors, not mine owners, with agencies recruiting for the larger ones. In October 2026 most ads flew from Perth on 2:1, two weeks on and one off, or 4:2, four on and two off. Several wanted applicants living in WA, and two contractors took any capital city.
A drilling contractor wins the drilling work, at an exploration site or on a mine, crews its rigs, and the agencies recruit for it. The contractors' own ads carried the leave and the career line, like DDH1's five weeks' annual leave, and the agency ads carried the big numbers in the title.
What the ads ask for
Most ads ask for:
- A manual driver's licence, and an HR licence on most
- A national police clearance; first aid on the contractors' ads
After the offer, the employer arranges:
- A pre-employment medical and a drug and alcohol screen; "Fit, healthy and ready to do the hard yards", one October ad said
- Site inductions, and the drilling certificate if the ad is a traineeship
Nice to have, and what each one gets you:
- Mechanical know-how: two October ads asked for mechanical aptitude, because the offsider helps maintain the rig
Where FIFO driller's offsider jobs fly from
Most fly from Perth, and several October ads wanted you living in WA already, Aston Advantage's among them. Two contractors went wider: DDH1's traineeships flew "from any capital city in Australia" to WA projects, and a Tasmanian underground contractor flew no-experience driller assistants "from all capital cities". Queensland ads flew from Brisbane, and the Brisbane page has that side.
How much do FIFO driller's offsiders get paid?
Short answer
Driller's offsider ads with a figure in October 2026 ran $36 to $56 an hour, middle $43, and the salaried ones $120,000 to $190,000 a year. The middle FIFO driller's offsider salary was $130,000, and the hourly ads add penalties and bonuses on top.
| Role | Advertised pay | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest hourly ad | $36 – $40 per hour + excellent metre bonus | SEEK, Terra Drilling, October 2026 |
| Highest hourly ad | $40 – $56 per hour | SEEK, Frontline Drilling, October 2026 |
| Lowest salaried ad | $120,000 - $140,000 + Super on all hours | SEEK, LH Partners, October 2026 |
| Highest salaried ad | $180,000 – $190,000 per year | SEEK, Earth AI, October 2026 |
The bottom and top ad of each kind, from 18 job ads of 12 October 2026; the middle hourly figure is $43 an hour, and the middle salary is $130,000 a year. Only ads that stated a figure are in the table. Most don't.
To see what any of those comes to over a swing or a year after tax, put it into the FIFO pay calculator; the salary page has every job side by side.
Where the big number in the ad comes from
An hourly ad and a salaried ad can be the same money. A rate in the forties over the 2,920 hours of a 2:1 year, with night loading and a metre bonus once the crew passes its daily target, is how an agency arrives at "130k++". The bonus is the part to ask about: some October ads paid offsiders one, DDH1's after probation, but on one underground rig it was the driller's alone. Compare ads by the hourly rate, the roster (3:1 has more days on than 2:1) and the bonus, not the number in the title.
What does a FIFO driller's offsider do all day?
A typical day for a FIFO driller's offsider
One ad summed up the FIFO driller job description as supporting the driller to meet targets, and the day is longer than that line. On an RC rig, reverse circulation, the rock comes up as dust and chips through a cyclone, and the offsider catches, splits, weighs and bags it in order for the geologists. On a diamond rig it comes up as solid core in trays, and underground, getting down to the rig and back can take an hour each way. Every shift ends with the washdown, including the one where everything broke.
Grade control or exploration: which rig you sign up to
Grade control rigs, drilling on a working mine to map the ore, sit beside a proper camp, a room, a mess, a gym and a bus. Exploration rigs follow the geology, and DDH1's October traineeships said to be flexible, "with both caravan & camp site accommodation". The drilling is similar; what differs is whether fourteen hours of it end in a shower and a bed or in a swag. If you get to choose, start on a mine site.
What is the harsh reality of a FIFO driller offsider job?
Short answer
The harsh reality of a FIFO driller offsider job is heat, steel and little shade: twelve-hour shifts of hot rods and heavy bags, with a driller you don't choose. One former offsider said turnover is very high.
Hot rods, heat and little shade
DDH1's ads call the job physically demanding, with 12-hour shifts "in remote, harsh conditions", and the people who have done it fill that in. One offsider posted that the rods got insanely hot and that being out in the sun next to the heat of the rig all day was what tired him.
Underground is hotter still, a former offsider said in a July 2026 video: "I had a 15 L water bottle and I'd smash that within a whole shift. You work like a dog." He had worked with cranes before, lasted a couple of weeks and went back to them.
The driller you get
A two-person crew for fourteen days at the end of a track is not a job with a colleague; it is a share house with one other person and no front door. A good driller teaches you, paces you and calls smoko; with a bad one, an offsider posted, all they care about is metres and you eat when your tasks are done. If the first swing is miserable, work out whether it was the job or the driller before you decide, and if it gets you down, Lifeline is on 13 11 14, any hour.
Where does a FIFO driller's offsider job lead?
Short answer
A FIFO driller's offsider job can lead to the driller's seat in about two years, or sideways within a year: trainee operator, blast crew or trade assistant. Offsiding puts FIFO on a resume that had none.
The ads sell the first door themselves: one agency's said "Become a driller", Niche's promised a "Clear pathway to driller in about 2 years", and Aston Advantage's offered to "Move into Trainee Driller roles in 12 months". A rigger who tried offsiding put it at three or four years from offsider to driller.
After six to twelve months you are no longer someone with no mining experience, and the trainee operator, trade assistant and blast crew ads that wanted site time are open. One offsider wrote online that it was a foot in the door, and that if he started with the rough stuff, anything after would be gold.
Is a FIFO driller's offsider job right for you?
Two honest questions
- Is your licence manual, and can you get the HR before you apply? An automatic-only licence closes most of the ads. The HR is the thing that gets one beginner picked over another.
- Is this the job or the door? Six months and sideways is a plan, not a failure. Decide which before the first swing, so a bad draw doesn't decide for you.
Ready to look?
If you've read this far and still want in, get the licence class, the clearance and your hardest outdoor job onto the first line of the resume, and ring the drilling offices as well as applying online.
- Drillers offsider FIFO jobs on SEEK (opens in a new tab)
- Driller offsider FIFO jobs on Indeed (opens in a new tab)
- Drillers offsider FIFO jobs on Jora (opens in a new tab)
- All job boards, contractors and agencies in one list
Fake ads turn up on real job boards too. An ad that asks you to pay a fee before you start is a warning sign: report it to Scamwatch (opens in a new tab).
Licence sorted and ready to throw rods? The other question is whether the life fits. Six questions, three minutes, free.
Is FIFO right for me?