FIFO Rigging and Scaffolding Jobs
Rigging and scaffolding are the short way into FIFO trade money without an apprenticeship. You still need the tickets, the hands and the site time, and the first year or two is spent grinding through shutdowns as the newest person on the crew. For anyone willing to start at the bottom and be watched until they are trusted, the pay is real, and the work comes in blocks with gaps between that some riggers turn into months off. What it rarely comes with is the same payslip every fortnight.
What FIFO rigging and scaffolding jobs are
FIFO rigging and scaffolding jobs are the crane, lifting and access work on a mine site, done on a high risk work licence rather than a trade. A rigger slings loads and directs the crane; a scaffolder builds the platforms everyone else works from.
FIFO rigging and scaffolding jobs: Where to start
- No tickets yetStart here
- Have dogging or basic riggingStart here
- Intermediate or advanced riggerStart here
- Scaffolder, not riggerStart here
- Want a roster, not shutdownsStart here
- Not in PerthStart here
Find FIFO rigging and scaffolding jobs
Search FIFO rigger (opens in a new tab) and FIFO scaffold (opens in a new tab) on SEEK, FIFO rigger on Indeed (opens in a new tab) and scaffolder FIFO on Jora (opens in a new tab). The ads also run as "shutdown riggers", "RI/RA" and "SI/SA" (the intermediate and advanced licences), "scaffolders and sentries" and "access crew".
Before you apply, check where each ad's flights leave from, called the point of hire. Getting there is usually up to you.
FIFO rigging and scaffolding jobs at a glance
| Pay | Riggers $52 to $107.21 an hour in the ads, middle $66.50; scaffolders paid by licence class, basic to advanced |
|---|---|
| Rosters | Shutdowns of a week to a month, with the dates in the ad; 2:1 (two weeks on, one off) or 8:6 (eight days on, six off) on projects and rostered crews |
| Flies from | Perth for most, and three ads said Perth only; two contractors fly riggers from any capital city, and one Adelaide ad was for South Australian mines |
| You'll need | A rigging or scaffolding licence at the level the ad names, plus the safety tickets; inductions after the offer |
| Experience | Site or shutdown experience; six October rigger ads named a floor of one to three years |
| Who hires | Shutdown and project contractors (Monadelphous, Linkforce, Civmec, Warrikal) and labour hire agencies (Techforce, Programmed) |
Pay from the rigger ads of 12 October 2026; rigger listings checked October 2026, scaffolding listings September 2026.
Can you get a FIFO rigging or scaffolding job without a trade?
Short answer
A FIFO rigging or scaffolding job needs a licence, the same national high risk work classes in every state, not a trade, and the first ones are short courses. Most rigger ads in October 2026 wanted an intermediate or advanced licence and site experience, so year one is spent earning that experience on someone else's crew.
The catch is in the experience. Six October ads for riggers set a minimum, from one year to three, and even the one that took basic riggers wanted a year. In September a local scaffolding ad for work at Kwinana, south of Perth, wanted "Minimum 12 months Scaffolding experience in Australia" and a "VOC within 2 years". The VOC, the verification of competency, is the site watching you work before it believes the card.
Getting in with no tickets: the trade assistant route
A person wrote online that the way in is to get onto a shutdown as a mechanical trade assistant, work hard where people can see it, and ask whether there is room to work with the riggers. He added that any crew he had worked on asked about your experience first and would not put a green rigger on a big lift alone. The ads back the first half: in September a shutdown contractor wanted trade assistants for a month-long shutdown at Port Hedland, with EWP (elevating work platform), forklift and telehandler tickets "mandatory". The FIFO trade assistant page covers that first step.
The ticket ladder, from dogging to advanced
The licence classes are set nationally, and each state's safety regulator issues the licence. Dogging (DG) comes first, and covers slinging loads, choosing and checking the lifting gear, and guiding the crane driver by radio, whistle or hand when they can't see the load. Basic rigging (RB) adds structural steel, hoists and precast panels; intermediate (RI) adds cranes, conveyors, tilt-up panels and dual-crane lifts; advanced (RA) adds gin poles, flying foxes and suspended scaffolds. Each rigging class needs the one below it.
Scaffolding has its own three classes, basic (SB), intermediate (SI) and advanced (SA), with hung and suspended scaffolds at the top, and it needs no dogging licence first. The ads name the classes by their initials, "RI or RA" for riggers in October and "SI or SA" for scaffolders in September, and some pay by them.
The tickets page has what dogging and basic rigging cost and where to do them, and one caution a scaffolder wrote online is worth having first. He said an employer would not pay advanced wages to someone a year in, because they had not been in the workforce long enough to be trusted to build advanced scaffold on their own.
How do you become a FIFO rigger or scaffolder, step by step?
Short answer
You become a FIFO rigger or scaffolder by getting onto a shutdown first, usually as a trades helper, then adding the licences a class at a time.
From no tickets, in WA
- Get your White Card, then the tickets for heights and confined spaces; tickets for an elevating work platform, a forklift and a telehandler help on shutdowns (what the ads ask for). Every course asks for your USI (Unique Student Identifier), a free number you make online.
- Get a start as a trade assistant on a shutdown crew, let them see you work, and ask if you can help the riggers (how people get in).
- Do dogging, then basic rigging; scaffolding starts with its own basic class (the ticket ladder).
- Base yourself in Perth if you can, because some ads take only Perth applicants (where they fly from).
- Register with several contractors and agencies at once, since a rigger's year is filled from their lists (how to register).
- Once you're offered a start, the employer books the medical and drug test and the client's site inductions.
- On your first shutdowns, expect long, hot days, and small lifts until the crew has seen you work (a typical day).
- Then add the next class up, and both licences in time, for more calls and better rates (where it leads).
Outside WA
Outside WA, look for the ads that hire from any capital, and in South Australia for the Adelaide shutdown work at the copper mines (the hubs). On a Queensland coal mine, Standard 11 and a coal board medical come first, and the employer pays for the medical.
How do FIFO rigging and scaffolding jobs work, and who hires?
Short answer
Riggers and scaffolders get FIFO work through the shutdown contractors and the labour hire agencies, almost never through the mine owner. Most October 2026 rigger ads were casual, for shutdowns or a project, and flew people from Perth.
The mine owner's name is in the ad as the client, not the employer. In October Monadelphous wanted riggers to "Support rolling shutdowns across FMG, Rio Tinto and BHP operations". In September a scaffolding firm asked "RTIO or BHP WAIO Inducted?", meaning already inducted for Rio Tinto's or BHP's iron ore sites.
Also in September, Civmec wanted riggers for the upgrade of a BHP bucket wheel reclaimer, the machine that digs ore back out of the stockpiles. Mader wanted an advanced scaffolder for fixed plant maintenance on Christmas Island, flying from Perth.
The how mining works page has why the owners contract this out. What it means for the worker is one word in the ad, "Casual" on most of October's rigger ads and "Contract/Temp" on most of the rest, and dates rather than a job.
What the ads ask for
Most ads ask for:
- The licence class the ad names, rigging or scaffolding
- The safety tickets: White Card, working at heights and confined space, the last two done within two years on several October ads; some add gas test atmospheres
- A driver's licence, and "full working rights"
- Site experience; several ads ask for a recent verification of competency
After the offer, the employer arranges:
- A pre-employment medical and a drug and alcohol screen
- Inductions for the client's sites; an ad that asks "Already Rio Tinto Inducted?" wants someone who has them
Nice to have, and what each one gets you:
- Both licences: the "scaffolder/rigger" ads pay for someone who builds the platform and then slings the load
- An HR or MR truck licence (heavy or medium rigid): one October rigger ad rated it highly, with heavy lift experience
- An EWP ticket: a rigging ad in October required one, and another rated it highly
Where FIFO rigging jobs fly from
Three of the October rigger ads said they fly people from Perth only. One read "all roles are FIFO from Perth only, no interstate positions are available".
Two contractors flew riggers from further away. Monadelphous offered "Point of hire from any Australian capital city", and a heavy lift company "FIFO from your nearest capital city": those are the lines to search for from Brisbane, Adelaide or Melbourne. South Australia has its own work too, and an October ad from Adelaide was for shutdown riggers at Olympic Dam, Carrapateena and Prominent Hill.
Some of the work is local to the towns. In September Monadelphous wanted scaffolders living in Kalgoorlie, drive in drive out, with a local living allowance.
Shutdown dates, and the jobs with a roster
A shutdown ad gives dates, not a roster. In September one scaffolding ad listed two shutdowns, 27 September to 7 October and 15 to 28 October, and another ran "November 5th to November 12th" with "Further shuts offered". In October one rigger ad gave a "Peak period from around 30 October to 27 November 2026".
The ads with a roster were the longer jobs. In October a 2:1 construction project at Rio Tinto's Parker Point port wanted riggers, and one shutdown firm kept its riggers on 8:6. In September an advanced scaffolder job at the Agnew gold mine in the Goldfields was on 8:6. Advanced scaffolders for 50 days of roofing works on Barrow Island, off the Pilbara coast, were on 3:1, three weeks on site to one at home.
A shutdown crew lives between those dates. In September a Perth scaffolding firm advertised "Casual scaffolders wanted to pick up shifts between FIFO swings", which says what the gaps are like.
How much do FIFO riggers and scaffolders get paid?
Short answer
FIFO riggers were advertised at $52 to $107.21 an hour in October 2026, with the middle ad at $66.50. At the middle rate, a FIFO rigger salary on a 2:1 roster, two weeks on and one off, would be $194,000 a year, but shutdown work rarely fills one.
| Role | Advertised pay | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest hourly ad | $52 per hour | SEEK, Red Appointments, October 2026 |
| Highest hourly ad | $86.77 – $107.21 per hour | SEEK, Skilled Resources Group, October 2026 |
The bottom and top ad of each kind, from 17 job ads of 12 October 2026; the middle hourly figure is $66.50 an hour. Only ads that stated a figure are in the table. Most don't.
To see what any of those comes to over a shutdown or a year after tax, put it into the FIFO pay calculator; the salary page has every job side by side.
Casual rates read higher than a salary divided by the hour, because the casual loading is in the number, and leave and sick pay are not. Ads write day shift and night shift as "DS" and "NS", and the night rate is the same job plus a loading. In October 2026 the top of the range came from two agencies' ads for Rio Tinto construction work on 2:1, at the same rates. A project like that has an end date, and one of the two said five to six months.
What do FIFO riggers and scaffolders do all day?
A typical day on a shutdown crew
A shutdown is the week or three when a plant is switched off so the worn parts can be swapped. The rigger moves those parts, chutes, wear plates, pipe runs, a conveyor drive, out of a tight space with chain blocks and comealongs (hand-cranked hoists) or under a crane with the dogman on the radio. The scaffolder is there a day ahead, building the platform the fitters and boilermakers will stand on, and a day behind, pulling it down. The crane crews do the big lifts, heavy sections lowered into a gap with little room to spare.
Scaffolding jobs fly in fly out, on a roster or a shutdown
In September 2026 the FIFO scaffolding jobs on the boards split into two kinds. The access crews on a maintenance roster build and change scaffold around the plant all swing, and their ads said "Consistent Rosters" and "Core crews", while the rest were shutdown work.
Some ads want a particular kind of scaffold. One scaffolder and rigger ad asked for "Proven high-level experience with tube & clip scaffolding", the loose-pipe kind that fits around awkward plant, built from tubes and couplers rather than modular frames. An ad for "Scaffolders and Sentries" wants sentries as well, the people who stand watch at a confined space while the crew is inside.
What is working FIFO rigging and scaffolding really like?
Short answer
Working FIFO rigging and scaffolding is hot, heavy and short: a week or three of twelve-hour days in the sun, then home until the next shutdown. The crews are tight, and a mistake on a lift can kill someone.
The heat is the first thing. A rigger wrote online that a shutdown was hot like standing on a warehouse roof in January, long days and not a lot of standing around. Another described the crew that never got a vehicle, a crane with no shade for most of the day, long-sleeved hi-vis, heavy boots and two head socks against the flies. Then there's the weight: gear gets dragged through the plant, tube gets carried at height, and the harness stays on all day.
The lift that goes wrong, and the person who is smaller than the job
One rigger wrote that if you get it wrong you will kill someone without a shadow of a doubt. The crews run on that: a green rigger is watched, checked again and given the simple lifts until someone has seen them work. Size matters less than people assume. A woman doing rope access wrote online that she was underweight, built like a stick insect and below average fitness, and did jobs some of the toughest men on site complained were too heavy.
The gaps are the last thing, because a shutdown crew's income rises and falls with a calendar somebody else writes. I read about a rigger who worked two months straight, took a month off, and did that all year, four months of holiday, after a couple of years of shutdowns he called grim. A worker with a mortgage builds a buffer during the blocks instead. If a gap gets long and dark, Lifeline is 13 11 14, any hour.
Where does a FIFO rigging or scaffolding job lead?
Short answer
A FIFO rigging or scaffolding job leads to the next ticket up and the next contractor's list, then to both licences, and for a few to rope access and offshore. Each step is a rate rise and a shorter wait between jobs.
Year one earns the first VOC and the second ticket. An intermediate rigger with a year or two of shutdowns behind them is what the October ads asked for, so the calls come more often. Holding rigging and scaffolding both is the next rise, because the crew stops waiting for the other licence to be free.
Above that is rope access, the harness-and-rope work on tanks and towers where scaffold would take too long to build, and offshore, which wants helicopter and sea survival tickets on top of everything else. One September ad already asked for a scaffolder with an advanced rigging ticket as well. The agencies page has how to register with several agencies at once, which is how a rigger's year gets filled.
Are FIFO rigging and scaffolding jobs right for you?
Three honest questions
- Can you carry a quiet month? The rate is high because the work stops. If a fortnight without pay would sink you, build the buffer on the first shutdowns before you count on the next.
- Will you take the small lifts for a year? The ticket says what you may do. The crew decides what you are trusted to do, and no course shortens that.
- Which ticket first? Dogging for rigging, because basic rigging needs it first, or basic scaffolding, which needs nothing before it. Tickets bought above your experience are permission the crew won't give you work under yet.
Ready to look?
If you've read this far and still want in, get the licence card, its class and the inductions you hold onto the first line of the resume, and read the ad for the dates before the rate.
- FIFO rigger jobs on SEEK (opens in a new tab)
- FIFO scaffold jobs on SEEK (opens in a new tab)
- FIFO rigger jobs on Indeed (opens in a new tab)
- Scaffolder 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).
Got the tickets and the nerve for the heights? The other question is whether the life fits. Six questions, three minutes, free.
Is FIFO right for me?