Free firefighter readiness checklist (AU & NZ)

A preparation checklist for career firefighter applicants in Australia and New Zealand. Tick off what's done and investigate the gaps. The service examples explain why requirements and deadlines cannot be transferred between agencies; follow your own campaign's instructions.

Eligibility & admin

Record both the requirement and when it is due. For example, NTFRS: Current first aid is required at least one week before course, not at application. source review overdue (review due 2026-10-08); confirm the current candidate information pack.

Confirm any age requirement and whether it applies at application or appointment.
Check citizenship / permanent-residency requirements.
Hold (or be on track for) the required driver's licence class.
Read the medical and eyesight standards and flag anything to check with a GP early.
Gather slow-to-obtain documents — references, certificates, prior-service records.

Physical aptitude (PAT)

Identify your actual assessment rather than assuming a shared circuit. ARFF, for example: Order: beep, mid-thigh pull, isometric push-up, countermovement jump. Each must pass; failure ends PAT. source review overdue (review due 2026-10-08); confirm the current candidate information pack.

Read the current assessment protocol, including any separate aerobic or strength components.
Distinguish published pass standards from equipment loads and task distances.
Check medical-clearance requirements before arranging physical testing.
Practise safe technique, task order and recovery periods appropriate to your assessment.
Track your own progress without assuming extra repetitions or a faster time add recruitment merit.

Cognitive / aptitude

Use your service's assessment scope. Tasmania, for example: Cognify assesses verbal/numerical reasoning and problem solving; SafeSelect screens psychological risk. source review overdue (review due 2026-10-08); confirm the current candidate information pack.

Check the current provider instructions and subject list for your service.
Practise verbal, numerical and abstract-reasoning items under time pressure.
Review errors as well as practising with a timer.

Psychometric

Read the instructions and answer honestly. FRV describes its profile this way: Untimed supervised work-preference questionnaire informs interview; it is not pass/fail. source review overdue (review due 2026-10-08); confirm the current candidate information pack.

Understand the personality / psychometric format your service uses.
Answer honestly rather than trying to construct an idealised personality.

Interview

Prepare specific examples without inventing experience. QFD's format: Panel usually 30–45 minutes; behavioural examples; notes allowed during perusal, not interview. source review overdue (review due 2026-10-08); confirm the current candidate information pack.

Build a bank of STAR examples covering teamwork, conflict, pressure and integrity.
Be able to say, specifically, why this service and why firefighting.
Do at least one out-loud mock interview before the real one.

Test-day logistics

The avoidable mistakes that undo weeks of good preparation.

Taper training in the final week — arrive fresh, not fitter-but-flat.
Sort kit, travel and timing the day before, not the morning of.
Sleep and hydrate properly across the final 48 hours.

Turn the gaps into a plan

A checklist tells you what's left; it doesn't tell you when to start each piece or what to actually do. Back-plan every block from your test date with the recruitment timeline calculator, then pick the physical plan that matches your runway — the 12-week or 8-week PAT plan. The recruitment preparation guide walks the whole process end to end, and the beep test requirements by service comparison shows where your cut-off sits.

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Ticked the boxes? Now check how ready you are.

A checklist tells you what to have in place; it can't tell you how you'd perform on the day. The free Readiness Check shows where you stand across the assessment areas and which one to work on first, before selection does it for you. It takes about 15 minutes with no card; create a free account at the end to get your personalised readiness breakdown.

Check my readiness

The firefighter recruitment readiness checklist