Being a Park Ranger?

Interested in helping conserve and share Queensland’s protected areas and biodiversity, and strengthen our partnerships with First Nations people? Why not become a Queensland National Park Ranger?

As a Park Ranger, you’ll have some of the world’s most stunning landscapes as your ‘office’ and get to work with others who are just as passionate about conserving and presenting Queensland’s terrestrial and marine parks, forests and wildlife.

You’ll have the opportunity to choose many different career paths and work and live in various parts of Queensland, including the outback, rainforests, mountains, reefs and coastal islands.

What do Park Rangers do?

Rangers look after our parks, forests and conservation areas and welcome and share their stories with visitors from around the world.

The roles and responsibilities of Park Rangers are very diverse and include management of terrestrial, marine and island parks; fire; wildlife and visitor safety. Rangers also manage education programs in parks and at David Fleay Wildlife Park, Walkabout Creek Discovery Centre; Mon Repos Turtle Centre; and Chillagoe Caves guided tours.

It is very rare for any two days to be the same as a Park Ranger. The work can be unpredictable and often influenced by weather. One day you might be protecting heritage values or focused on conserving and managing natural resources by working on a planned burn, or by running weed and feral animal control programs. The next day you might be patrolling parks and upkeeping visitors’ facilities—talking to park visitors, cleaning facilities and making repairs to walking tracks.

Spotlight on Park Rangers

Check out these interviews with several of our Park Rangers from across Queensland and gain an insight to their diverse backgrounds and day-to-day activities.

• Roland Dowling, Ranger in Charge, Heritage Parks
• Jessica Harris, Coastal Tropics, Northern Region
• Natalie Sands, Great Barrier Reef and Marine Parks Region
• Hank Schinkel, Northern Region
• Tracy Wattz, South West Region
• Daley Donnelly, Fort Lytton National Park, Coastal and Islands Region
• Rob Miller, Tablelands and Dry Tropics, Northern Region
• Omar Bakhach, Roma, South West Queensland region
• Don Rowlands, Munga-Thirri National Park
• Doug Davidson, Chillagoe-Mungana Caves National Park
• Jolene Weston, south western parks
• Leo Gabey, Whitsunday national park islands
• Jo Petersen, Magnetic Island National Park
• Boyd Blackman, Great Sandy National Park
• Tayce Cook, Northern Great Barrier Reef region
• Bridget Armstrong, Great Barrier Reef and Marine Parks Region
• Shellie Cash, Currawinya National Park
• Chris Mitchell, Diamantina National Park
• Carly Smith, Boodjamulla (Lawn Hill) National Park
• Rene Burgess, Marine Operations, Great Barrier Reef and Marine Parks
• Cathy Gatley, Mon Repos Conservation Park
• Ben Hall, Eungella National Park
• Cat Shaw, Coastal and Islands region

(Material originally published by the National Parks Association of Queensland in their Protected Magazine)

How do I become a Park Ranger?

All of our Ranger roles are advertised on Smart Jobs and Careers.

To become a Park Ranger you need to hold a manual driver’s licence. There are no mandatory qualifications required to work as a ranger, however formal qualifications are highly regarded. It may be worthwhile considering a TAFE or university qualification in conservation and land management, park and natural resource management, environmental science or a related area.

As a Park Ranger you will be provided with necessary training and essential certification as part of the job. However, practical skills in general construction and maintenance; or holding certifications such as chainsaw, or an Agricultural Chemicals Distribution Control (ACDC) operator’s licence can all be beneficial for you when applying for a job with us.

For information on the skills and experience we look for when recruiting rangers, visit the current ranger vacancies advertised on the Queensland Government Smart Jobs and Careers website. By reviewing the role descriptions you will gain an understanding of the attributes we look for in our successful candidates.

Volunteering in parks is a great way to gain valuable experience and develop contacts. Volunteering for Parks has information on how to find a volunteer project in your location and how to get involved in community partnership programs with QPWS.

And if your children are showing a passion for nature, check out our holiday programs for opportunities for them to get a taste of a life of a Ranger.

What is it like being a Park Ranger?

Check out these videos to see some of the different responsibilities and opportunities that our rangers have…

Women in national parks

We value a diverse and inclusive workplace and are proud of the many female Rangers who are working in a wide variety of roles across Queensland and making incredible contributions to our environment and the department.

We have some amazing women working across the State, who are living the dream! Check out the links below to hear some of their stories and get inspired!