FIFO Security Jobs
A security guard went from theme park security to a FIFO site on Barrow Island, off the Pilbara coast, and stayed eight years. The shifts were twelve hours instead of six or eight, the first roster was two weeks on and one off, and the money was, in his word, phenomenal after what he had been on. He told the story on a mining careers channel. The rest of it is the honest part: the crews around him earned far more, the night shifts were hard, and he said you need a plan. If you hold a security licence and want onto a mine site without a trade, this is a way in.
What a FIFO security job is
A FIFO security job is guarding a mine and its camp on a fly in fly out roster: the gate, the patrols, the cameras and the camp bar. Some sites combine it with the emergency services officer (ESO) role, which adds rescue and medical tickets.
FIFO security jobs: Where to start
- Have a licence, no mine experienceStart here
- No licence yetStart here
- Medical or emergency backgroundStart here
- What it paysStart here
- What a shift is likeStart here
- On a visaStart here
Find FIFO security jobs
Search FIFO security on SEEK (opens in a new tab), on Indeed (opens in a new tab) and on Jora (opens in a new tab), and also "site access", "gatehouse officer" and "emergency services officer". The searches return city guarding jobs too; the mine ads say FIFO, a roster or a region in the title.
Before you apply, check where each ad's flights leave from, called the point of hire. Getting there is usually up to you.
FIFO security jobs at a glance
| Pay | Salaried $86,724 to $94,800 a year, or $55 an hour, in the October 2026 ads |
|---|---|
| Rosters | 7:7, 14:14 and 2:2 on the October 2026 security ads; 8:6 on many ESO ads |
| Flies from | Perth for WA sites; Brisbane, Cairns, Darwin or Adelaide for the rest |
| You'll need | Your state's security licence, current first aid, a driver's licence (some want manual), a recent police clearance |
| Experience | Guarding, not mining; one October ad wanted three years in security |
| Who hires | Security contractors, camp companies such as Compass Group, and mine owners such as Northern Star for the emergency roles |
Pay from the job ads of 12 October 2026; listings checked October 2026.
Can you get a FIFO security job with no experience?
Short answer
A FIFO security job needs no mine experience: the ads ask for a security licence from your state, and some for years of guarding, but not for site time. Without the licence, a camp job such as utility is the quicker way onto a site.
A guard who spent eight years on Barrow Island had only done theme park security before, and that was enough. Crowd control is a separate licence, and he held both, but he said some sites don't need it because there's no crowd to control.
Getting the security licence
Each state issues its own security licence. In WA it comes from WA Police and needs the Certificate II in Security Operations, a written exam on the course and a first aid certificate. A new application takes up to 30 working days, the federal government's business licence service (opens in a new tab) says, so start it before you apply for jobs.
Since January 2026, the course has to be done in WA with a training provider on WA Police's approved list (opens in a new tab). In October 2026, SNS College in the city charged $850 with first aid included, and Core Training Group in Cannington $890. The written exam is $70 plus GST, and WA Police's 2026-27 fee is $405 for a one-year licence or $434 for three years, plus $135 for fingerprints.
A licence from another state can be transferred: one guard swapped a Queensland licence for a WA one. The White Card and first aid are on the FIFO tickets page.
How do you become a FIFO security officer, step by step?
Short answer
You become a FIFO security officer by getting your state's licence and some guarding experience in town, then applying to the security firms on the mines.
From no licence, in WA
- Do the security course, the Certificate II, and first aid, then apply to WA Police for the licence, which can take six weeks (the licence). Every course asks for your USI (Unique Student Identifier), a free number you make online.
- Keep your CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) current, and get a police clearance shortly before you apply (the full list).
- Get some guarding behind you in town, because the ads want security experience, not mine time (who gets in).
- Add crowd control and a White Card if you can, because some sites ask for them (the nice-to-haves).
- Live in WA for the WA jobs: some ads take WA residents only, and the sites fly from Perth (where they fly from).
- Apply to the security contractors and the camp companies together (who hires).
- Once you're offered the job, the employer books the medical and drug test, the site induction and the flights.
- On your first swing, expect twelve-hour shifts, days and nights, on the gate, on patrol and in the camp bar (a typical day).
Outside WA
Outside WA, the licence comes from your own state. In Queensland, it's the unarmed security officer licence from the Office of Fair Trading (opens in a new tab), after the Certificate II course, and a restricted licence lets you work under supervision while you train. For New South Wales, it's the Class 1A licence from the NSW Police's licensing directorate (opens in a new tab), after its own course, a literacy and numeracy test and first aid.
In South Australia, it's the employee security agent licence from Consumer and Business Services (opens in a new tab). In the Northern Territory, you apply online or at a Territory Business Centre (opens in a new tab) after the training and first aid, and a provisional licence covers you while you train.
How do FIFO security jobs work, and who hires?
Short answer
FIFO security officers are hired by security contractors that supply mines, and by the camp companies' own security arms. The mine owners hire their emergency services officers (ESOs) themselves, into the site's safety team.
Compass Group's ad, under its own security name, was for "mobile security checks of site perimeter, camp and laydown areas". Northern Star's ESO job at its Jundee mine sat in the site's health and safety team, on 8:6, eight days on and six off.
What fly in fly out security ads ask for
Most ads ask for:
- A state security licence and ID, with the Certificate II behind it
- First aid and CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation), the CPR done within twelve months
- A driver's licence, manual on some ads, and a national police clearance less than six months old
- Basic computer use, for the access systems and the cameras
After the offer, the employer arranges:
- A medical and a drug and alcohol screen, the site induction, the flights
Nice to have, and what each one gets you:
- A crowd control licence: more sites to apply to
- A White Card: the sites that ask for one
- The Certificate III in mine emergency response, a Certificate IV in health care and a drug collection unit: the emergency services jobs, ESO and MESO (medical emergency services officer)
Where FIFO security jobs fly from: Perth, WA and the rest
An October ESO ad for a WA lithium project wanted WA residents only, so outside WA, start with the ads that fly from your own state's hub. One New South Wales job was drive in drive out on 14:14, fourteen days on and fourteen off. The Perth page has the airport and the hubs.
How much do FIFO security jobs pay?
Short answer
FIFO security pay in October 2026 was $86,724 to $94,800 a year on the salaried ads and $55 an hour on hourly ads. Most security ads give no figure, so the range rests on the few that did.
| Role | Advertised pay | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Hourly ad | $55 an hour | Jora, Sirrom Corporation, October 2026 |
| Lowest salaried ad | $86724 + super + applicable night penalties | SEEK, Compass Group, October 2026 |
| Highest salaried ad | $94,800 a year | Jora, Sirrom Corporation, October 2026 |
The bottom and top ad of each kind, from 3 job ads of 12 October 2026. Only ads that stated a figure are in the table. Most don't.
All three jobs were even time, half the year off: 7:7 days and nights in Queensland, 14:14 nights in New South Wales and 7:7 nights in the Pilbara. On those hours the $55 an hour job paid more over a year than either salary, and both salaries had super on top, the Queensland one night penalties too. The pay calculator turns a rate into a year on your roster, and the salary page has the other FIFO jobs for comparison.
What is FIFO security work, day to day?
A typical day for a fly in fly out security officer
One guard on Barrow Island worked twelve-hour shifts, six to six, on days and nights. His nights were mobile and foot patrols, room lockouts, lost property, the phone, a walk through the bar, and shifts in the emergency response room, where the fire alarm calls came in.
The fire alarms were the part he remembered. In the early days people showered with the door open and set off the alarm, and the whole block had to be evacuated at two or three in the morning. A muster meant finding the ones who stayed in bed with a pillow over their head.
He was usually paired with another guard, and he got through the quiet hours with coffee, walks and music on the radio. The twelve-hour night shifts were very hard at first, he said, after the six- and eight-hour shifts of theme park security.
FIFO mining security jobs and the emergency crew
Some October ads combined the two jobs as emergency services and security officer, and on those sites the guard is part of the emergency response team. The ESO is trained in mine rescue and emergency care and leads the emergency response; the medical version, the MESO, also treats injuries and does the drug testing.
The October ads for both came from gold mines in the Goldfields, a lithium project and the mines' own safety teams. They wanted emergency response experience, and one wanted two years in an underground mine or on construction.
FIFO armed security jobs
FIFO armed security jobs weren't in the October ads: none of the mine security ads asked for a firearms licence, and the job is access control, patrols and emergency response. The one armed job in the search was cash in transit in a Perth suburb, a city job.
What is a FIFO security job really like?
Short answer
FIFO security work is twelve-hour shifts at the gate or on patrol, days and nights, keeping order among the people you live with. Nights can be long and quiet, and a guard who did eight years called it a good job and a good way in.
The hard part isn't the work but who you do it to. The noise complaints, the bar and the room lockouts all involve your neighbours in the camp, and some of them, the guard said, "will give you a bit of cheek back". He said the job needs someone adaptable who can talk to anyone, because a site holds every kind of person.
On pay he was plain: "we were quite low compared to what they're on". The construction crews on much better money were put off after two years, while he stayed eight.
Age is no bar, he said: his crew had men in their late sixties still going well, and a former policeman was still working at 68. Young workers on the construction phase didn't last, because they missed too much at home. If a swing gets dark, Lifeline is 13 11 14.
Where does a FIFO security job lead?
Short answer
A FIFO security job can lead to the ESO job, the site's emergency responder, with more tickets; the October 2026 job ads went up to security and emergency services superintendent. Some guards use the site to move into other work altogether.
A guard who stayed on Barrow Island for eight years saw others move on to "really good jobs", and said having a plan is a big thing when you go to the mines. His own was two businesses and a life that let him travel.
Is a FIFO security job right for you?
Three honest questions
- Can you do twelve hours of not much, awake? Nights are patrols and a quiet gatehouse until the alarm. Coffee and a radio got one guard through eight years; if you need the work to be busy, this is not it.
- Can you say no to the people you eat with? Noise complaints and the bar are yours to deal with, in a camp of people who know your face.
- Is the gate the job, or the way in? Some guards stay ten years, and some step up to other jobs. Decide which you are before you get comfortable.
Ready to look?
If you've read this far and still want in, get the licence current, the first aid renewed and a police clearance from the last six months, then search.
- FIFO security jobs on SEEK (opens in a new tab)
- FIFO security jobs on Indeed (opens in a new tab)
- FIFO security 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 in the wallet and ready for the gate? The other question is whether the life fits. Six questions, three minutes, free.
Is FIFO right for me?