What's The Deal with 000 Worker Salaries?

CommuterPolluter on 08/01/2025 - 21:24

I was recently on a bit of a Jake Gyllenhaal binge and watched The Guilty. It was okay but it didn't stack up to Brokeback Mountain. Anyway, it got me thinking about call centre operators and that job. One thing lead to another and I'm looking at the job listing for Triple Zero Call-Takers.

I was absolutely astounded to see that after completing their training a Triple Zero call taker makes an astounding $54,088. Over the next two years, their salary caps out at a paltry $64,595. Now you might think they are shift workers, so they get various loadings and such. This is addressed in the information pack "Factoring shift penalties and overtime a full-time ear 1 call-taker averages annual earnings of $75,900, a year 2 Call-taker earns on average $81,200 (based on analysis of earnings undertaken)".

I don't mean to come across as condescending towards those of less means, but it seems to me that this is an astonishingly low salary for a job with some major downsides (shift work, high stress, traumatising). It puts them significantly below the median full-time salary of $88,400. Now obviously we can't pay everybody a million bucks but I would have expected they deserve another $20,000 or so, given the nature of the work. So I wonder why do people take this job on if the salary is so low? Is it out of compassion and a desire to help others? Or is that just the reality of having no formal qualifications in Australia?

Obligatory cheers to the Triple 0 Call Takers, you're doing God's work.

Education & Work

Comments

  • fantombloo on 08/01/2025 - 21:29
    +11

    All other things considered, the closer you are to the coal face / real work, generally the less you get paid. There are of course exceptions. Search "Bullshit Jobs" by David Graeber for a good treatment of this topic.

    • CommuterPolluter on 08/01/2025 - 21:37
      +4

      Thanks for the recommendation. I've heard of the phrase before but never read the book. Sounds like a good train read.

      In relation to this scenario, you might be onto something. Looking at the Victoria Public Service salary bands we see that these guys are capping out somewhere in the middle of a VPS Grade 3 salary. Only 17.8% of Victorian Public Servants are on Grade 3 or lower. That means >80% of public servants are on at least $14,000 more than the average Triple 0 Call-Taker. Seems like a bit of a raw deal for them.

      • Protractor on 08/01/2025 - 21:58
        +6

        Yeah, teachers are way better off innit?

  • star-ggg on 08/01/2025 - 21:40
    +29

    Did you miss the pandemic? We gave essential workers our thoughts and prayers.

    • CommuterPolluter on 08/01/2025 - 21:47
      +1

      Yeah, I was busy trying to catch up on One Piece. I think I heard something about clapping though?

    • afah0447 on 09/01/2025 - 10:18
      +1

      And the Europeans banged pots with wooden spoons to show their appreciation.

    • parisienne on 09/01/2025 - 22:31

      Exactly.THIS is one of the main reasons for the mass exodus of us ( nurses) from the industry. We always knew we were taken for a ride prior to that little slice of h€||, but the whole "thoughts and prayers",or worse…the clapping for the NHS in the UK, showed how little we were valued ( and how taken advantage of so many of us were),and until compassion is able to be used as currency….none of us that left are coming back.

    • CommuterPolluter on 08/01/2025 - 22:02
      +9

      I feel sad that you feel this level of animosity towards me. I don't want to engage in this kind of bickering, which is only negative. Unfortunately, I'm also quite provokable so I'm just going to hide your comments.

        • johnno07 on 09/01/2025 - 01:21
          +2

          There's absolutely no way this guy has a meaningful career if he spends this much time whinging about everyone else's jobs.

    • coffeeinmyveins on 09/01/2025 - 09:16
      +2

      You sound like that guy who never gets invited back a second time

    • siresteelhell on 10/01/2025 - 03:06

      I had to look up "misspelled" as it didn`t sound right…. Americanised words are creeping in….
      not "misspelt", but another garbage USA spelling again.

  • mskeggs on 08/01/2025 - 21:58
    +24

    The money is not bad considering no formal qualifications or experience is needed.
    Call centre work is poorly paid across the board, so this is reasonably attractive for someone who wants to do a non-evil job with a union and reasonable conditions.

    • El cheepo on 09/01/2025 - 02:25
      +2

      The money is not bad considering no formal qualifications or experience is needed.

      I mean, its not terrible pay… but its a traumatic job and shift work. You would think it would be a bit higher as OP suggests (100k range)

      You should see the pays / requirements to become an air traffic controller.

      No uni etc required, just a year of on boarding and training which is paid, then huge pay jumps after a couple years of training and service.
      The prerequisites are a year 12 diploma and someone cool under pressure (similar to a 000 call operator)

      (Obviously very different roles, but both are jobs are in the no additional schooling but the need for a brain category)

      I do see the positives with the stability and union side you mentioned too. But think they deserve more.

      • MS Paint on 09/01/2025 - 07:02
        +6

        year 12 diploma

        What is this?

        Obviously very different roles,

        Hence the 3x salary discrepancy.

        • El cheepo on 09/01/2025 - 10:30
          +1

          What is this?

          Certificate/ diploma

          I don’t know, i don’t have one 😂

          Hence the 3x salary discrepancy.

          Its a contrast of how two jobs in which

          no formal qualifications or experience is needed.

          Can have such differing pays.

      • GregRust on 09/01/2025 - 09:11

        Both are incredibly important jobs, but I don't think they are a good comparison in this discussion.

        • MS Paint on 09/01/2025 - 09:57

          In Greg We Rust

        • El cheepo on 09/01/2025 - 10:34
          +2

          I don’t mean they should both be paid the same, i just used it as an example.

          My line of thought was more: just because a job doesn’t require formal qualifications or experience, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be paid well if its a important job.

          Bit of a can of worms though.
          Could argue that about many lines of work.

      • Butterchurner on 09/01/2025 - 09:21
        +1

        It is extremely hard to become an ATC. The implications of a single error can be catastrophic, therefore they need the best of the best. Yes 000 callers have complex issues to deal with, but the majority of the role is dispatch.

  • freefall101 on 08/01/2025 - 22:09
    +12

    It's nothing like The Guilty. You answer the phone, collect the details and someone in dispatch forwards it to police, ambulance or fire. That's it.

    Easy work, zero skills required, pays better than most call centres and probably has less strict KPIs than a lot of them (no sales targets, number of calls per day, limiting call length, etc), the salary makes sense to me. Some people I imagine put up with the boredom via the occasional exciting call they can talk to their friends about.

    You should look at the salaries for aged care nurses. They have to deal with dementia patients, regular deaths and wiping shit off people.

    • CommuterPolluter on 08/01/2025 - 22:16

      It's nothing like The Guilty. You answer the phone, collect the details and someone in dispatch forwards it to police, ambulance or fire. That's it.

      I appreciate that it's probably not as traumatic as firefighters (who have to pick up dead bodies among other things), police, ambulance, etc. and obviously everybody reacts differently but surely it's still somewhat traumatic to the people? Admittedly the only times I've ever had to call Triple 0 have been pretty mundane.

      • Protractor on 08/01/2025 - 22:43
        -3

        Absolutely 90+% of ppl here have never used 000 for any of the the things you have.
        Do let the forum know the 'mundane' things.

    • Protractor on 08/01/2025 - 22:46
      +9

      You should look at the salaries for aged care nurses. They have to deal with dementia patients, regular deaths and wiping shit off people.

      Very rude to pre-empt OPs next thread

    • Benoffie on 09/01/2025 - 00:55
      +4

      I think, based on what Ive been told by an operator, thats not how it works.

      Sure, they dont hang up, but they manage the ambulance alert levels etc while its all happening. Theyre also directing remote first aid.

      Every second wasted on one call is another call theyre not taking. Ive never heard him talk of lulls or downtime.

      Certainly in SA, 000 is taking police, fire and ambulance calls. Police direct only to 131444. I cant image in a state of 2m people the phones would ever stop.

      • mskeggs on 09/01/2025 - 10:25

        I think in Vic this is the first line that captures and directs the call to fire/police/ambulance where a second operator then stays on the line managing the call.
        Happy to be corrected if this isn't the case.

        • MS Paint on 09/01/2025 - 10:47

          What's your location please?

          Blue Oyster Bar King St Melbourne

          What's the situation?

          A guy just got stabbed and there's blood everywhere

          Ok, I'll put you through to the Ambulance and the police have been notified

          Thanks

          What's your location please?

          Rinse and repeat. The novelty would wear off pretty quick.

          • Benoffie on 09/01/2025 - 13:43
            +1

            @MS Paint: It's confusing system - so the first operator works for Telstra - that is the initial contact. They get paid whatever Telstra pays - probably about $75k.

            Then it splits to the 000 call takers in the state and system beneath.

            In SA, those 000 operators get paid sfa - about $70k ($31.23–A$34.66 hour)

            In SAPOL, they are civilians, with authorised officer supervisors, who put the jobs into the system

            In SAAS, they're paramedics/trained medical staff

            https://saambulance.sa.gov.au/work-with-us/who-we-employ/eme…

  • cashless on 08/01/2025 - 22:15
    +6

    At least they do a useful job to help people in trouble rather than sit around idly sh1tposting on OzBargain.

    • CommuterPolluter on 08/01/2025 - 22:22

      If you feel like making a change they're hiring.

      • Protractor on 08/01/2025 - 22:42
        +2

        QUOTE>
        "I don't mean to come across as condescending"

    • AustriaBargain on 09/01/2025 - 04:56

      How long until AI does it better, and if AI can handle 99% of calls, then maybe the 1% of complex calls will be handled by operators with more specialised training. One day anyway, maybe not one day soon.

      • Protractor on 09/01/2025 - 09:34
        -2

        AI is already implicated in the Trump building Cybertruck incident. What a surprise that tech was being used for no good,eh?

      • Drpepper666 on 09/01/2025 - 10:22

        30 years

  • plmko on 08/01/2025 - 23:31
    +7

    It is astounding that we have become a country where people are shocked by $50k, $60k, $70k…..salaries.

    And then people wonder why average salaries to afford houses have become $160k-200k.

    • djsweet on 09/01/2025 - 08:40
      +4

      People are only shocked by 50-70k salaries because they do not provide a liveable income for a family. Maybe if cost of living wasn’t so high, people wouldn’t be shocked. It’s all relative. But rent would eat 50%+ of those salaries leaving you less than $500pw for bills, transport and groceries. So I can see why.

      • ramb9 on 09/01/2025 - 19:27

        No… people are shocked because we're all on over $300K here.

        One of us is basically 6 of them ;)

    • AustriaBargain on 09/01/2025 - 15:40

      If only people didn't see houses as something to invest in. Crazy that Australia has all these public companies yet homes to rent out are seen as the better investment by many.

  • BoltThrower on 09/01/2025 - 00:25

    He has a worse job in the movie 'Source Code'

  • Benoffie on 09/01/2025 - 00:48
    +4

    Its shite pay for the experience. I understand the idea around call centre etc but I know a current 000 call taker for SA Ambulance whose pulling coffees at my local joint to top up wages.

    And while I get they have predetermined work flow scripts to read, hearing him talk about having to comfort a mum craddling her dead kid that just drowned in the bath, like nah, teaching is the pits but 000 work has got to be hell on earth full of friggin angels.

  • AustriaBargain on 09/01/2025 - 04:54
    +2

    $75,900 is a decent income isn't it, for a relatively unskilled job? It's higher than the median salary across all workers in Australia. Meaning it's more than most working Australians get per year. So it's probably more than you get a year, statistically.

    • CommuterPolluter on 09/01/2025 - 20:33

      I’m on more but I have a couple of bachelor degrees. It’s lower than the median salary for full-time workers btw.

    • Jolakot on 09/01/2025 - 22:16

      What even is an unskilled job?

      • JIMB0 on 09/01/2025 - 22:52

        Forum troll.

  • elgrande on 09/01/2025 - 05:17
    +5

    a job with some major downsides (shift work, high stress, traumatising)

    Not sure if you ever called 000 during an emergency, they come accross as anything but stressed or traumatised. I'm sure its part of their training so that they can deal with callers that are losing it, but its like talking to an AI robot.

  • ilove on 09/01/2025 - 08:59

    it's to ward off people looking solely for money

    • altomic on 09/01/2025 - 11:02

      I hope your comment is tongue-in-cheek

  • Protractor on 09/01/2025 - 09:32

    Wish all you want, they are not first responders.

  • Speckled Jim on 09/01/2025 - 09:36

    These tertiary sector jobs — where formal qualifications aren't required — are also in the sights of automation / AI, and so, much like security guards and call centre operators they are paid poorly.

    In reality, the job is very similar to a blend of the above. Many control room security personnel were once 000 or Police radio ops and sometimes vice-versa. It's stressful, but the theory is when your shift is done, you can switch off.

    What I saw was people self-medicating with harmful amounts of grog and junk food. Five years I'm happy to have behind me.

  • jrvb42 on 09/01/2025 - 09:45

    I'm astonished the median wage is $80k. The minimum is $48k. Of course, many people aren't full time.
    I think 000 call takers are paid appropriately. They only take calls and triage.
    How much more do the people who are doing the work allocated by 000 workers get?
    000 workers should be a long way below that figure.
    Don't lifeline workers volunteer to do essentially the same work?

    • CommuterPolluter on 09/01/2025 - 19:59

      The $88k figure I quoted is the median salary for full-time workers only. The median salary among all workers is $72,600.

  • terlalu on 09/01/2025 - 10:01

    you're talking about a year 1 salary.

    i would have loved to get that much straight out of training.

    the median worker isn't first year out, and this is reflected in the salary.

    • CommuterPolluter on 09/01/2025 - 19:57

      From what I can see the salary caps out at “Year 2 Call Taker” which is the $64,595 / $81,200 with various shift loadings.

      Please note that the “Year 1 Call Taker” salary quoted is not straight out of training, but after 1 year of working as a call taker. Straight out of training is probably on like $70,000 with loadings (estimating) which I agree isn’t bad for essentially unqualified work. There just isn’t much room for salary progression.

  • pharkurnell on 09/01/2025 - 10:39

    Are these just the 000 callers - and not the police/fire/ambo people?

  • JIMB0 on 09/01/2025 - 10:58
    -2

    Why when I call 000 am I not actually talking to a police officer?

  • 2esc on 09/01/2025 - 11:55

    This doesnt surprise me at all look at lots of essential workers pay and it doesnt match up through either pay or just plain respect.

    There are plenty of people out there on a $100,000 plus and there jobs have some social value but if ceased tomorrow will have little social negative impact.

    Sadly thats life because society doesnt value so called grunt work(unqualified or low qualified work).

  • foxmulder on 09/01/2025 - 11:59
    +2

    Jake's best movies I think are Nightcrawler, End of Watch, Zodiac and Prisoners.

    • pegaxs on 09/01/2025 - 16:24
      +3

      Oh, I liked Nightcrawler… but I have to say my faves are Source Code or Jarhead. Top 5 would be rounded out with Donnie Darko and Life (as well as Nightcrawler). Presumed Innocent was awesome as well…

  • Shame on 09/01/2025 - 15:25
    +1

    The call centre is in Ballarat. Houses, rents and schools are cheaper there than Melbourne plus it's easier to drive. The only downside is that heating and cooling costs more.

  • Snicko on 09/01/2025 - 18:56

    The loadings are under estimated

    Not to mention they get more leave than a standard job

    4 on / 4 off - 2 day then 2 night - like FRV

    ie week 1 - Monday Day SHift, Tuesday Day shift, Wednesday Night shift, Thursday Night shift (finish friday am) friday, saturday sunday monday off - Rinse and repeat on the tuesday.

    15 Min break every hour also

    Once yoru a call taker, after a while you can apply to be trained as a dispatcher.

    You will make more than the 80K with actual loadings and not averaged….

  • Diesmile on 09/01/2025 - 19:01

    At least in my experience, they don't care about your situation, they ask only: police, fire or ambulance?

    • JIMB0 on 09/01/2025 - 22:53

      Then they pass you off to someone else.

  • Dack Smith on 09/01/2025 - 19:26

    Frontline workers are grossly underpaid and undervalued in this ignorant society.

    People that save lives earn way less than influencers, tik fokkers and YouTubers that have no real value or worth to society.

    Sad really.

    And yet dumbasses stick to them like flies and give them lots of cash lol

  • gromit on 09/01/2025 - 19:58
    +1

    000 call takers while critical and I respect what they do and probably can occasionally be quite upsetting they are doing little more than basic triage of where to direct your call, i.e. police/fire/ambo, it is the person on the end of their redirected call that handles all the really tough stuff.

  • kachi on 09/01/2025 - 20:43

    I know their job is important as well so no issues, however their role doesn't really require any extensive or long period training. From my experience as well, I have had a fair share of calls…they ask for police, fire, ambulance then you're forwarded to that department. If you are in a situation where you do need to get assistance or directions to aid the person in need/the situation you'll be guided by someone professional in that department (police, fire, ambulance) until they arrive. With the loading, it's not a bad job I would say.

  • Variensus on 09/01/2025 - 21:22

    My wife worked at 000 about 15 years ago. She worked the shift work and covered incoming police calls. At that time you could get trained on fire and ambo calls, and in return your pay would increase as the overall workload was constant rather then the on and off for calls for one service. I am 100% certain the pay was more when she did it then it is now.

    That being said, it was a very traumatic job at times, she was dealing with people experiencing the worst moment of their lives. While the role may have changed now, when she did it it wasn't just taking details and handing off the call to someone else to deal with. There were separate dispatchers that co-ordinated with police for call outs but they were never public facing.

  • May4th on 09/01/2025 - 22:27

    as posters above mentioned, the relatively low salary is due to low barrier to entry - when anyone can do the job with training, however important, the salary will be capped due to supply and demand. not saying it's right, but that's the reality
    the lower end of the salary would be for basic call taker "police fire or ambulance, what state and town" and forward, that's it. as you become subspecialised the pay rises accordingly, even then it's very protocol driven, there is no clinical decision to make

  • BargainHunter9876543 on 09/01/2025 - 22:32
    -1

    Why would they be getting paid good money?

    It's a cushy call centre job that any 15yr old who speaks clear English could do with a couple of days on the job training.

  • TrumpisKing on 09/01/2025 - 23:20

    Answering phones and responding to emergencies definitely doesn't warrant 100k a year. Each person 😂😂
    Not even close. You're nqr if you actually think that.
    If they are getting traumatized and stressed out from THAT job, they sound weak to me.
    Try having a really hard stressful working job like labouring, or chef, then they can complain. Not sitting in an office

    • CommuterPolluter on 10/01/2025 - 00:42

      I’ve done labouring. It’s hard yakka especially on a hot summer’s day but the furthest thing from stressful.

  • star-ggg on 09/01/2025 - 23:53

    Anyone who's worked at a corporate job knows there's plenty of people being paid >$100k doing work that a high school student can do.

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