Gas network technician job description

Gas network technicians generally hold an advanced technical or trade qualification in instrumentation, electrical or gas work, along with relevant licences and site tickets and a current driver’s licence. Working rights in Australia are mandatory. Experience with SCADA, telemetry and cathodic protection is highly valued for senior roles.

Mandatory requirements usually include the relevant gas, electrical or instrumentation licences, site access tickets, a driver’s licence and working rights in Australia. Preferred qualifications may include SCADA or telemetry experience, cathodic protection competencies and a current first aid certificate. Match the mandatory list to the specific assets and sites the technician will work on.

SCADA and telemetry experience is not always mandatory, but it is highly advantageous for a network technician role because monitoring network performance and diagnosing faults relies heavily on control-system data. Many employers list it as a preferred qualification or provide system-specific training after hiring.

It is possible for candidates with strong instrumentation or electrical trade backgrounds to transition into network roles, but the senior technical nature of the position usually calls for relevant gas network experience. If hiring from an adjacent trade, plan for structured mentoring, competency sign-offs and a clear progression path through the award levels.

This depends on your workload and coverage needs. Permanent staff provide consistency, retention and continuity for safety-critical work, which suits most network technician roles. Casual technicians offer flexibility but attract a 25% casual loading under the Gas Industry Award. Many businesses favour permanent employment for senior technical positions and use casuals or contractors for project peaks.

Under the Gas Industry Award (MA000061), penalty rates apply for Saturdays (150%), Sundays (200%) and public holidays (250%), with afternoon (115%) and night (130%) shift loadings and overtime paid at 150% and 200%. Casual employees receive a 25% loading. Use award interpretation software to calculate rates accurately.

The Gas Industry Award includes an availability duty allowance of $290.97 per week for employees rostered to be on-call. Because network faults can occur at any time, on-call arrangements are common for technicians. Confirm the current allowance and how it interacts with any callout and overtime entitlements for your business.

Key elements include: position title and classification level, employment type (casual/part-time/full-time), hourly rate or salary, applicable award, on-call and availability duty arrangements, reporting structure, main duties, work locations and required licences. Use our digital employment contracts to simplify this process.

On-call and availability duty require careful planning to balance coverage, fatigue and cost. Set clear on-call rotations, track availability duty entitlements and give technicians visibility of upcoming shifts. Our how-to guide on rostering gas staff and rostering software help you manage this efficiently.

Network monitoring and fault response often require shift, evening and weekend coverage. Build rotating rosters that spread penalty-rate shifts fairly, respect adequate breaks between shifts and comply with the Gas Industry Award. Rostering tools make it easier to plan rotations and control labour costs.

Because Saturday, Sunday, public holiday, shift and overtime rates add up quickly, model shift costs before publishing rosters. Use the shift cost calculator and overtime and penalty rate calculator to estimate costs, and apply award interpretation to keep pay accurate.

Collect availability preferences during onboarding and update them regularly, especially for on-call rotations. Use rostering software to track when each technician can work and to record licences and competencies that affect who can be rostered to specific tasks. This simplifies roster creation and reduces last-minute gaps.