PUA30420 is the nationally recognised Certificate III behind emergency service worker work. It has been the current version on the national register since 2020, when it replaced PUA30419. About 82 emergency service worker jobs were advertised in June 2026, up 36.7% on a year earlier.
The signals behind the Certificate III in Public Safety (SES Rescue) are mixed, and both sides are worth weighing. Employment is projected to grow through 2035 and job ads in June 2026 were up 36.7% on a year earlier. The official shortage list does not rate its occupations in shortage and enrolments are falling. These are official statistics, not a promise about your result.
Employers are posting more emergency service worker jobs than a year ago. About 82 emergency service worker jobs were advertised online in June 2026, up 36.7% on a year earlier. Over the last 12 months there were about 900 job ads, while 65 people were training in the qualification nationally (2025). Ads show the market. Enrolments show the pipeline. Neither is a job promise.
Australia's official shortage list rates emergency service workers and fire fighters as not in shortage. The 2025 Occupation Shortage List rates Emergency Service Worker and Fire Fighter as not in shortage.
Emergency service worker jobs are projected to grow. Jobs and Skills Australia projections put these occupations at 17,137 workers in May 2025, 18,211 by May 2030 (up 6.3%) and 19,096 by May 2035 (up 11.4%).
Enrolments in the Certificate III in Public Safety (SES Rescue) are dropping fast. Across Australia, 1,330 people enrolled in 2024. In 2025 it was 65, down 95.1% in a year. National data for PUA30420 starts in 2022.
The register and the national framework set some of this. Providers set the rest.
State funding for PUA30420 is being verified against official program lists.
Eligibility and student contributions vary by program and provider. The official state listing is the source of truth. In a subsidised place the government pays most of the tuition and you pay a co-contribution set by the program and provider.
The Certificate III in Public Safety (SES Rescue) is 11 units: 4 core, plus 7 electives chosen from 35 options on the register. Prerequisites apply to 15 of them, marked below.
No Get Course partner currently lists this qualification. Check the national register for organisations approved to deliver it, and remember that approval to deliver is a regulatory fact, not a recommendation. You can browse live courses from our partners and enquire today.
Browse coursesGet Course maps PUA30420 to its occupations using the register’s own outcome wording, shown with ANZSCO codes (here, 4412) so the mapping can be checked. Job advertisement counts come from the Jobs and Skills Australia Internet Vacancy Index and count online ads, not vacancies filled. Enrolment counts come from NCVER Total VET Activity and count people in training, not completions. Funding rows appear only after verification against the official state program list. Source vintages: Occupation Shortage List 2025 assessment; Jobs and Skills Australia Internet Vacancy Index latest month June 2026; NCVER Total VET Activity 2025 collection; employment projections May 2025 to May 2035 release; register training.gov.au, synced 6 September 2026; register synced 18 Sept 2026. Page last updated 19 Sept 2026.