Establishment
The number of established posts (excluding on-call roles) has remained stable. Overall staffing numbers (headcount) has increased from 830 to 837 employees in post (March 2025). The table below shows that as of March 2025 the wholetime firefighting establishment is at minus 13. A course for trainee firefighters will be starting in September of the same year which will seek to reduce this gap. However, based on forecasts, it is clear that a wholetime firefighter recruitment process will need to be undertaken during 2025-26.
| Work group |
Establishment 31/03/2025 FTE |
Actual 31/03/25 FTE (Headcount) |
Establishment 31/03/24 FTE |
Actual 31/03/24 FTE (Headcount) |
Difference (Establishment) FTE |
Difference (Actual) FTE (Headcount) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Principal Officer | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 + 1 T/ACFO | 0 | -1 |
| Wholetime |
428 (-13) |
415 (414.6 FTE) |
428 |
414 (413.6 FTE) |
0 |
+1 (+1 FTE) |
| On-call | 246 | 244 | +2 | |||
| Support |
164 (155.6 FTE) |
173 (158.9 FTE) |
164 (157.8 FTE) |
168 (153.8 FTE) |
0 -2.2 |
+5 (+5.1 FTE) |
| Total |
595 (586.6 FTE) |
837 (822.5 FTE) |
595 (588.8 FTE) |
830 (815.4 FTE) |
0 -2.2 |
+7 (+7.1) |