Firefighter rosters and borrowing power: how lenders read your shift pay

What a 10/14 roster does to your pay

Your roster decides most of what lands on your payslip. In Queensland, the 10/14 roster is the recognised roster for firefighters on continuous shifts. Each tour is two 10-hour day shifts, two 14-hour night shifts and four days off, and the full cycle runs seven tours over eight weeks. Some stations work a day-only roster instead, and some roles are day work.

The Queensland Fire Department's 2025 certified agreement smooths out the pay. Firefighters on the 10/14 roster receive an averaged wage each fortnight, with the night shift and weekend shift allowances worked out as an average across the cycle, plus a 38-hour week allowance paid fortnightly. So the roster part of your pay arrives as much the same amount every fortnight, even though your hours are not the same.

What still moves around is everything on top: overtime, recalls, higher duties and some skill allowances. Other states run their own rosters and pay rules, but lenders ask the same questions about each line. Our firefighter home loans page covers the basics. This article goes line by line.

Base pay is the starting point

Your base salary for your rank and pay point is the part lenders usually lean on most. It is set out in your award and agreement, and it does not change from one fortnight to the next.

Your base also steps up as you move through the firefighter ranks. Lenders generally assess the base you are on when you apply, not the one you expect next year. If you have just moved up, send a payslip that shows the new figure, or the letter confirming your new rank.

Shift allowances: regular pay, read with care

Because shift allowances are built into your roster, many lenders treat them as part of your regular income. APRA, the banking regulator, lists recent payslips showing regular pay "including usual shift penalties" as a normal way for a bank to check what you earn.

Lender policy still varies. Some count all of your shift allowances, some count only part, and some want to see them paid for a while before they count them. An averaged allowance that shows up every fortnight is the kind of steady pattern lenders like to see.

Overtime and recalls: lenders want a pattern

Overtime is pay for hours past your rostered shift. A recall is when you are called back in to work overtime, often on a day off to cover a crew or a big job. Recall time is usually paid as overtime too.

APRA's guidance tells banks to discount or disregard income that is temporarily high or uncertain, and it names overtime as an example. So most lenders count only part of your overtime, some count all of it, and most want to see that it is regular. How much history they want varies.

Some lenders average your overtime over a year or two, or take the lower year. That matters for firefighters, because a heavy storm or fire season can lift one year well above the next. If one year was unusual, for example because of a long deployment, tell us. We would rather explain it up front than have a lender find it.

Higher duties: acting up needs a history

Higher duties means relieving in a higher rank, such as a senior firefighter acting as station officer. Under the Queensland award, you are paid at the higher rank's level for the shifts you relieve.

Most lenders treat higher duties as variable income unless the move is permanent. If you have been acting up for months, a letter from your employer saying how long, and whether it is expected to continue, can help a lender count it. If you have been permanently promoted, the new base pay is what lenders generally use.

What evidence lenders want

Expect a lender to ask for most of these:

• your last two payslips, showing year-to-date figures,
• last year's income statement from myGov, and the year before if overtime is a big part of your pay,
• a letter from your employer confirming your rank, roster and start date, and any ongoing higher duties,
• bank statements showing your pay going in, and
• sometimes your roster.

APRA's guidance lists written advice from your employer, tax returns and bank statements that confirm regular pay as ways a bank can check your income. Your income statement shows your year-to-date salary and wages, tax withheld and super, so it is the quickest way to show a full year.

How to set out your pay so it is read properly

• Pick a typical payslip. A payslip that includes back pay, for example after a new certified agreement, can make your normal pay look higher than it is. Flag any lump sum so it is not mistaken for regular income.
• Watch the start of the financial year. In July and August your year-to-date figure covers only a few weeks, so one big recall shift can swing it. Lenders usually check it against last year's income, and employers have until 14 July to finalise last year's figures.
• Explain changes. Unpaid leave, a long stretch of leave or light duties can change what a payslip shows. If you move to a day work role, check whether your shift allowances stop, because lenders generally use what you earn when you apply.
• Do the sums first. Our income annualiser turns your year-to-date figure into a full-year number, roughly the way an assessor would.
• Do not shop around with applications. Each application can leave a credit enquiry on your credit file. We check lender policy first, then aim to apply once.

Where we fit in

Two firefighters on the same rank and roster can get very different answers from different lenders, because each lender sets its own policy on shift pay, overtime and higher duties. We read your payslips, work out which policies suit how you are paid, and only then pick a lender. See how we help on our home loans for firefighters page, or send us your last two payslips and we will tell you what you could borrow.

We are not part of, or endorsed by, any fire service. We just know how lenders read your pay.

Sources

• Queensland Industrial Relations Commission, Queensland Fire and Emergency Service Employees Award, State 2016 (reprint as at 01-09-2026): the 10/14 roster, rank progression and higher duties, checked 23-10-2026.
• Queensland Industrial Relations Commission, Queensland Fire Department Certified Agreement 2025: rosters, averaged fortnightly wages, shift allowances and the 38-hour week allowance, checked 23-10-2026.
• APRA, Prudential Practice Guide APG 223 Residential Mortgage Lending: how banks should assess and verify income, checked 23-10-2026.
• Australian Taxation Office, Access your income statement, checked 23-10-2026.

This article is general information only. It is not credit advice or an offer of credit, and it does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Consider your circumstances and talk to us before acting.

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