'Earning two months in two weeks': British expats reveal staggering $9,000 a fortnight salary as a FIFO worker in Australia

Sky News AU

2 days ago

The possibility of earning more than $9,000 a fortnight as a Fly In Fly Out (FIFO) mine worker in Australia has seen Brits flock Down Under in droves.
Cash-strapped expats from the UK have joined Australian citizens increasingly enticed by the pay packet on offer for FIFO work, particularly for roles in remote mines in Queensland and Western Australia.
And it seems the cash benefits of working long, consecutive outside under the Australian sun outweigh the drawbacks.
Caithilín Hughes, 26, from Belfast, Ireland, works long 12-hour days for 14 consecutive days under the Aussie sun as a machine operator in WA.
She splits her time between the mine and her home in Perth and says she enjoys FIFO work for the "money game."
"The average hourly wage for a machine operator is around $55. We work 12-hour days for 14 days straight. That's around $9,240 before tax," Caithilín told the Irish Independent last week.
"Now I spend my days driving huge machines in the mines of Western Australia, earning in two weeks what would take some at home in Ireland, nearly two months to earn."
Caithilín Hughes took to TikTok to reveal that her daily rate is about $55 per hour, which she said could total more than $600 per day.
"Most jobs are probably going to range from $30 an hour to maybe $60 or $70 an hour," the 26-year-old said.
"I work as a machine operator, so I can only really talk about what a machine operator makes.
"Most people who come on a holiday working visa tend to work as machine operators. So, you're probably going to get paid from $45 to $65 an hour.
"Probably most people will make the $50 to $55 range. So, based on $55 an hour, 12 hours a day, you're going to get paid $660 a day.
The 26-year-old enjoys a six-day break in Perth before returning to work for two weeks at a time.
She is an aspiring investigative journalist and hopes to one day fulfil her career goal in Belfast, but she is content with her life Down Under for now.
Englishwoman Aimee Gale also took to TikTok to say she landed a sought-after role as a FIFO worker despite having limited experience.
She said most companies are willing to hire people who meet the working requirements.
Those include a working holiday visa, a police check, a white card, and certifications for working at heights, confined spaces, and gas testing.
"I must have contacted around 30 different agencies, maybe even more, just calling them, emailing them, and if I didn't get a response, I would go up to the recruitment agency and show my interest that way," Aimee said.
"A lot of people didn't even respond.
"They also said they were looking for somebody who had a year experience or at least six months."
Aimee said being a FIFO is not always rosy; it also means being "eaten alive" by mosquitoes and grappling with intense heat.
"It's so, so hot, and you're in your full PPE [protective gear] all day," the expat said.
She also described her first work experience with rollers, where people operate a machine to compact materials like soil and asphalt, as "awful".
"Then, I was doing TA and hose tech, so (it was) simpler, but still hard. Those were 12-hour days," Aimee said.
"So, you've just got to go in open-minded. You can't go in thinking, 'Oh my gosh, this is going to be amazing, and I'm going to meet so many new people', which you do, and it's amazing, but there are downsides to things as well. It's not all sunshine and rainbows."
Aimee spends her time off work enjoying snorkelling in the Great Barrier Reef and soaking up Australia's rays.
Meanwhile, Irish model and beauty pageant titleholder Grainne Gallanagh offered a rare glimpse into her experience as a FIFO worker in a WA mine.
Grainne is from Buncrana, Ireland, and relocated to Perth with her fiancé, Ryan Coleman, in March 2023.
After a brief holiday, the couple embarked on FIFO work in WA's rugged red dirt mines.
It's there the former Miss Universe Ireland spent 12-hour shifts driving trucks under the scorching Australian sun.
Despite the harsh conditions, Grainne described the mining work as an exciting adventure that she would highly recommend to others and acknowledged the benefits of well-paid mine work.
Grainne was named 'Employee of the Month' in her first month on the job, followed by 'Employee of the Year,' beating hundreds of other workers.
"I was so nervous about starting this job and how I would be received in an environment where I had no idea what I was doing, and it was mostly men," she said on social media last September.
"But I was so pleasantly surprised; they have genuinely been so unbelievably patient, helpful, kind, and have made me laugh every single day. And the girls have been a dream."