FIFO Painting Jobs
Most FIFO painting isn't walls and rollers. It's blasting the rust off a mine's steel and coating it so it lasts, often during a shutdown, when the plant stops for repairs. The ads want hours of blasting and coating, a trade certificate or both, and the site tickets. If you've painted for a living, the industrial coating side is the gap to close.
What a FIFO painter is
A FIFO painter, usually called a painter blaster, blasts rust and old coatings off steel and then paints it with protective coatings, on a fly in fly out roster. The work is on mine plant and industrial sites. A smaller group of FIFO painters works on camps and buildings.
FIFO painting jobs: Where to start
- No experience, want to startStart here
- Hold a painting tradeStart here
- What the work is likeStart here
- Work with steel as wellStart here
- What it paysStart here
- Where it leadsStart here
Find FIFO painting jobs
Search FIFO painter on SEEK (opens in a new tab), on Indeed (opens in a new tab) and on Jora (opens in a new tab), and also "painter blaster" and "industrial painter". The contractors and agencies post their own roles too.
Before you apply, check where each ad's flights leave from, called the point of hire. Getting there is usually up to you.
FIFO painting jobs at a glance
| Pay | $55 to $75 an hour for painter blasters; $51.15 full time on one |
|---|---|
| Rosters | 2:1 led; 8:6 on one; 7:7 and 14:7 on Queensland drive-in drive-out ads |
| Flies from | Perth for the WA ads; Adelaide for Olympic Dam; Darwin and two Queensland cities on one Gove ad |
| You'll need | A White Card and site tickets, and a trade certificate on many |
| Experience | 18 months to five years on the painter blaster ads |
| Who hires | Shutdown contractors and staffing agencies |
Pay and listings checked October 2026, from the three boards.
Can you get FIFO painting jobs with no experience?
Short answer
FIFO painting jobs with no experience are rare, because the ads wanted experience, from 18 months up to five years. The ways in are a painting trade first, or a start as a trainee, apprentice or brushhand, a painter's helper, with a contractor that takes them.
A recruiter's ad for Pilbara work asked for a "Minimum 5 years' industrial Painter/Blaster experience". On Jora, a Goldfields ad asked for 18 months in a similar role, and a Perth agency's ad asked for two years. An agency's ad for work in Maddington wanted a painting trade certificate or a VOC (verification of competency), a practical check that your skills are up to the trade.
FIFO painting jobs with no experience: the trade comes first
The industrial painter's certificate is the Certificate III in Surface Preparation and Coating Application, and in practice it comes with a job. In WA, South Metropolitan TAFE, the state-run college, teaches it in Carlisle, but only as a traineeship, a paid job with the training built in, for someone an employer has taken on. House painters train for the Certificate III in Painting and Decorating, the trade for homes and commercial buildings. One Perth agency called the surface preparation certificate "highly desirable".
A Port Hedland painting firm said it "will consider apprentices and brushands". A Gove contractor's ad hired blaster painters, boilermaker welders, advanced scaffolders and trade assistants together, on 2:1 (two weeks on, one week off) flying from Darwin, Cairns and Brisbane. A Townsville ad for a painting trades assistant said "Learn painting skills working with an experienced professional", though it was casual local work and not FIFO.
The clearest door without experience is one of those traineeships. In October 2026, Monadelphous was advertising a three-year paint and blast traineeship based in Karratha or Paraburdoo on 2:1, leading to the certificate.
Experienced painter blasters without the certificate can get it by recognition of prior learning (RPL), where an assessor checks your work against it instead of putting you through the course. Two providers assess anywhere in Australia, and both need evidence from real blast yard work:
| Course | Price, in the provider's words | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Certificate III by RPL, for workers with more than 2 years in the industry | $2950 | Best Option Training, Oct 2026 |
| Certificate III by RPL, 3 months to send your evidence | AUD $3900: $1500 on enrolment and $2400 on completion | National Skills, Oct 2026 |
How do you get a FIFO painting job, step by step?
Short answer
You get a FIFO painting job with a painting trade or industrial blasting hours, the site tickets, and applications to the shutdown contractors and agencies. Without either, the first step is a traineeship or a helper's job on a painting crew.
From no blasting experience, in WA
- Look for a traineeship in painting and blasting, like the one Monadelphous advertised in the Pilbara, or a brushhand's start with a firm that takes beginners; the industrial coating certificate comes through the job (the trade comes first).
- Get a White Card, then confined space and heights tickets no more than two years old (what the ads ask for). Every course asks for your USI (Unique Student Identifier), a free number you make online.
- Add a boom lift or forklift licence if the ads you're aiming at ask for one (where to get them).
- Base yourself in Perth, where most WA painting crews fly from (where the flights leave from).
- Apply to the industrial contractors, such as Monadelphous and Programmed, and the staffing agencies in the same week (who hires).
- Never pay an agency or anyone else to put you forward for a job (the fee rule).
- Once you're offered the job, the employer books the medical and drug screen and the site inductions.
- On your first swing, expect twelve-hour shifts with a blast hose and a spray gun, sometimes swapping from days to nights halfway through (a typical shift).
Outside WA
Outside WA, a camp painter's job at Olympic Dam flew from Adelaide, a Gove job flew from Darwin or Queensland, and the Queensland ads were for drive-in work (the other states).
What are fly in fly out painting jobs, and who hires?
Short answer
Fly in fly out painting jobs are mostly painter blaster work on shutdowns and long projects at mines, plants and oil and gas sites. Industrial contractors hire most of them, many through recruitment agencies.
Monadelphous advertised blaster painters in Kalgoorlie, Perth and Alice Springs. Programmed advertised a paint blaster for a Goldfields site, and Compass Group a casual painter for its camp work at BHP's Olympic Dam in South Australia. The rest came from industrial service firms and staffing agencies.
The roles in the ads
- Painter blasters, on shutdowns and projects
- Industrial painters for a single shutdown
- Coating supervisors
- Painters for camp maintenance and building work
Painting jobs FIFO: what the ads call them
The titles were industrial painter, painter blaster, paint blaster and blaster painter, with the word order changing from ad to ad. Plain "painter" was used for building work too, so read the details. Some ads were residential jobs in the Pilbara and Queensland and not FIFO, and one asked "Sick of FIFO? Want to be home every night".
What do you need for FIFO industrial painting jobs?
The ads asked for:
- A trade qualification on many, such as a "Trade Certificate in Painting/Blasting", though some only preferred one
- A White Card, in most ads
- Working at heights and confined space tickets, several ads wanting both done in the last two years
- A high-risk work licence in some, for the boom lift (WP) and forklift (LF) classes
- A pre-employment medical and drug and alcohol screening, and a national police check in one ad
- Epoxy coating experience in the Kalgoorlie ad, with polyurea preferred
- A clean shave in one ad, so the respirator seals
One ad also said a Rio Tinto induction was "highly desirable". The tickets page explains each one.
FIFO painting jobs rosters: 2:1 led, with short shutdowns and long projects
Monadelphous, a Pilbara coast contractor, the Gove contractor and a Perth agency ran 2:1. Programmed's Goldfields ad was 8:6, day shift only.
Some ads were a single shutdown: a Boddington ad was for "10 days of scheduled shutdown work" in November 2026. Others were long projects, one "expected to continue through to 2028".
FIFO painting jobs Perth: where the flights leave from
The WA ads mostly flew from Perth. A Perth agency's said "FIFO ex Perth Only", and Monadelphous's Perth ad said "Point of hire from any Australian capital city".
FIFO painting jobs WA: the Pilbara and Goldfields lead
The WA ads were spread across the Pilbara iron ore sites, Tom Price, the Cape Preston iron ore coast, Kalgoorlie, Agnew and the Boddington mine. Monadelphous's Perth ad named "Ongoing rolling shutdowns across FMG, Rio Tinto & BHP".
FIFO painting jobs Australia: the NT, South Australia and Queensland
Monadelphous's Alice Springs ad was a 2:1 casual job at the Tanami, and the Gove contractor's ad was in the Northern Territory too. Compass Group's camp painter flew from Adelaide to Olympic Dam. The Queensland painter ads were all drive in drive out: a Bowen Basin ad ran 7:7 on day shift, and an energy project ran 14:7 with 11-hour days.
FIFO industrial painting jobs include oil and gas and offshore
A recruiter's ad offered oil and gas, liquefied natural gas and offshore roles, on rosters and shutdowns, and a Perth contractor's ad included offshore shutdowns. Offshore work also asked for the BOSIET (Basic Offshore Safety Induction and Emergency Training) and an MSIC (Maritime Security Identification Card).
FIFO painter jobs on camps and buildings suit a house painter
Compass Group's Olympic Dam ad was for a trade-qualified painter "Working in remote Accommodation Villages", with "Flights are from Adelaide Airport" and "12 Hour Days (11 Hours Paid + 1 Hour Lunch break)". A Pilbara contractor wanted painters for "housing, camp and mining infrastructure works", with residential and FIFO options. These ads asked for painting experience, not blasting.
How much do FIFO painting jobs pay?
Short answer
FIFO painter blaster ads in October 2026 paid $55 to $75 an hour, and one full-time job paid $51.15. The casual rates sat at the top, and some added a night shift uplift or paid travel.
| Role | Advertised pay | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Painter Blaster | $74–$75/hr + 15% Nightshift Uplift + 2 Hours Paid Travel Time | SEEK, Altrad Services, Oct 2026 |
| Blaster / Painters | From $65.00 DS | $72.34 NS per hour casual + Super | SEEK, Monadelphous, Oct 2026 |
| PAINTER/BLASTER'S | $55 – $72 per hour | SEEK, Drive Personnel, Oct 2026 |
| FIFO Paint Blaster | Goldfields | $65 per hour flat rate | SEEK, Programmed, Oct 2026 |
| Painter Blaster - FIFO Roles | $60 - $71 an hour | Jora, Flex Recruit, Oct 2026 |
| Painter & Blaster | FULL TIME: $51.15 ph | SEEK, YEM Technology, Oct 2026 |
Only ads that stated a figure are in the table. Most don't.
The casual rates are higher because they carry casual loading, the extra paid in place of leave: one contractor's full-time rate was $51.15 an hour and its casual rate $63.94. Counting every hour of a 2:1 roster on 12-hour shifts, those hourly rates come to about $161,000 to $219,000 a year. The pay calculator turns any rate and roster into a year, and the FIFO salary page compares pay across FIFO jobs.
What does a FIFO painter do day to day?
A shift is twelve hours of blasting and coating
The ads described the work in pieces: abrasive blasting and surface preparation, corrosion repair on structural steel, and epoxy and polyurea coating. Most shifts were 12 hours, and some rotated a week of days with a week of nights. One Pilbara ad was a remediation program across iron ore operations.
The blasting is done with grit, not sand. Abrasive blasting media with more than 1% crystalline silica are banned under Australia's work health and safety laws, and Monadelphous wanted people who could maintain the blasting gear and the airless pumps.
What is FIFO painting really like?
Short answer
FIFO painting work is twelve-hour shifts, often swapping between days and nights, on short shutdown contracts or longer projects. Blasting and coating steel is physical work, done in the site's heat and dust.
The jobs are project based. A shutdown contract can end in ten days, and a long project in a year or two, so painters chase the next one. One recruiter's ad forecast "1-2 years worth of work".
If a long swing gets dark, Lifeline is 13 11 14, and the FIFO mental health page has the rest of the help.
Where does a FIFO painting job lead?
Short answer
A FIFO painter blaster job leads to a coating supervisor's role running a crew, or to coating inspection. One October ad was for coating supervisors at Tom Price on a 2:2 roster.
The supervisor ad asked for someone to "Lead a skilled crew on a major project in Tom Price". Coating inspectors check the work, and their courses run from an entry level with no prerequisites to a level that asks for two years of coating work.
Programmed's Goldfields ad promised "real career progression opportunities". Rigging and scaffolding work often sits beside painting on a shutdown, and the rigging and scaffolding page covers it.
Is a FIFO painting job right for you?
Three honest questions
- Can you work 12-hour shifts, including nights? Most of the ads were 12-hour shifts, and several had night shifts.
- Do you have the trade or the hours? The experience asked for ran long, and the longest was five years.
- Can you handle short contracts? A shutdown ad ran ten days, and many were casual.
Ready to look?
If you've read this far and still want in, get your tickets current first. Put your blasting and coating hours in the first line of the resume.
- FIFO painter jobs on SEEK (opens in a new tab)
- FIFO painter jobs on Indeed (opens in a new tab)
- FIFO painter 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).
Trade in hand and ready for a shutdown? The other question is whether the life fits. Six questions, three minutes, free.
Is FIFO right for me?