Applying for Australian government jobs — state by state.
Australian government jobs are not one thing. Federal, state, territory, and local government each operate under different frameworks, with different classification systems, different application formats, and different distinctive features. This guide walks through each jurisdiction in turn, explains what's actually different, and links to the dedicated guide for each.
The Australian public sector landscape.
"Government jobs in Australia" covers four broadly distinct employment markets: the federal Australian Public Service, the six state public services, the two territory public services, and local government across roughly 540 councils nationally. Each operates under its own legislation, its own classification structure, and its own capability framework. Applications written for one don't necessarily translate to another — not because the underlying capabilities are different, but because the language, format, and proficiency descriptors are.
For most candidates the practical implication is this: identify which jurisdiction you're applying to, read the relevant framework, and write your application in that framework's language. Pasting a federal pitch into a NSW application or a NSW criteria document into a Victorian application is the single most common reason strong candidates get screened out before substantive assessment.
The other practical implication is that movement between jurisdictions is common and usually possible — but requires translation, not just transfer. Federal officers regularly move to state roles and vice versa; the work is similar, the application format isn't. This guide is designed to help you navigate that translation, whether you're staying in your current jurisdiction or moving to a new one.
Each jurisdiction below has a card with the framework name, classification structure, typical application format, and the distinctive features that make it different from the others. Each card links to a dedicated post for that jurisdiction with worked examples and full guidance.
If you already know which jurisdiction you're applying to, scroll to that card. If you're undecided, the section near the bottom of this post helps you choose based on what you're looking for.
Federal — the Australian Public Service.
The Australian Public Service (APS) is the largest single public sector employer in Australia, with around 170,000 ongoing staff across federal departments and agencies. It operates under the Public Service Act 1999 and the APSC's Integrated Leadership System (ILS), which sets out the capabilities expected at each classification level.
APS classifications run from APS1 (entry) through APS6 (senior operational), then Executive Level 1 and 2 (management), then the Senior Executive Service (Band 1 through Band 3). Each level has its own work level standards published by the APSC, which describe the complexity, autonomy, influence, and supervision expected of work at that level.
Most APS applications use a pitch format — an integrated piece of writing addressing the role's selection criteria in a single document. Pitch length varies by level: short pitches of 250–500 words at APS3, two-page pitches at APS5–6, longer pitches plus separate leadership statements at EL and SES levels. APS jobs are advertised on APSjobs.gov.au and on individual agency career pages.
Australian Public Service (APS)
Integrated Leadership SystemThe largest public sector employer in Australia. Most federal departments and agencies recruit through APSjobs, with applications in pitch format addressing the role's selection criteria and demonstrating capability against the relevant ILS Level. The most consequential thing to get right is calibrating the pitch to the level you're applying for — over-pitching at the level reads as overreach, under-pitching reads as not ready for the role.
State by state — the six state public services.
Each state public service operates under its own legislation and uses its own capability framework. The cards below summarise each, in order of size: NSW, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania.
NSW Public Sector
NSW PSCF (revised January 2026)The NSW Public Sector Capability Framework (PSCF) was substantially revised on 19 January 2026, with 20 core capabilities across 5 levels of complexity (Foundational, Intermediate, Adept, Advanced, Highly Advanced). The revision added focus on digital and data literacy, customer service, cultural capability, leadership, change management, ethical behaviour, strategic workforce planning, and psychological safety. Agencies have until 29 January 2027 to update role descriptions to the revised framework.
NSW role descriptions identify a small set of focus capabilities (typically four to six) plus complementary capabilities. The focus capabilities are what your application needs to address explicitly. The level required for each focus capability is set in the role description and varies independently of the clerk grade.
Victorian Public Service
VPS Capability FrameworkVictoria uses the VPS Capability Framework maintained by the Victorian Public Sector Commission (VPSC). The Victorian language distinguishes between "key selection criteria" (KSCs) which are scored explicitly and capabilities at proficiency levels. Each KSC needs a substantive response. The framework also gives more visible weight to personal qualities and self-management than other state frameworks.
Application format is the explicit format-matters dimension of Victorian applications. Some roles ask for a separate KSC document; others ask for a cover letter addressing the criteria; others ask for application questions in the careers system. Submitting the wrong format is grounds for screening out before content is assessed.
Queensland Government
Capability and Leadership FrameworkQueensland uses the Capability and Leadership Framework (CLF) maintained by the Public Sector Commission, with five capability streams: Vision, Results, Accountability, People, and Personal. The Administrative Officer (AO) classification stream is the largest by volume.
Queensland Health applications have distinctive conventions worth knowing about specifically. The standard format is a one- to two-page cover letter addressing both the "Are you the right person for the job?" criteria and the Key Accountabilities in the position description. This format is non-negotiable for QH roles and submitting a separate criteria response document is a common screening-out mistake.
Western Australia Public Sector
Leadership Capability Framework + new Recruitment StandardWA Public Sector is in the middle of substantive reform. A new Recruitment Standard takes effect on 1 July 2026, replacing the current Employment Standard, contained in Commissioner's Instructions 48, 49, and 50. A new WA government jobs website launches the same day, with a talent marketplace platform coming in 2027. Candidates applying after 1 July 2026 should expect updated processes and platforms.
WA uses two main classification streams: Public Service Officer (PSO) for general administrative and management roles, and Specified Calling Officer (SCO) for specialist professional positions. The state's industry context — mining and resources, agriculture, regional services — shapes many operational roles and demonstrating contextual familiarity is often weighted in selection.
South Australian Government
SA Public Sector Capability Framework (SAPSCF)South Australia uses the SAPSCF maintained by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Sector Employment, with four capability groups: Personal Behaviour, Relationships and Outcomes, Personal Drive and Integrity, and Communication. The Personal Drive and Integrity group is weighted more visibly than the equivalent group in most other state frameworks — resilience, integrity, accountability, and self-management routinely appear as explicit selection criteria.
SA's industry context shapes many role environments. Defence (Osborne Naval Shipyard and the Australian Submarine Agency), advanced manufacturing, viticulture, and renewable energy are distinctive industry clusters that interface with government operationally.
Tasmanian State Service
Tasmanian State Service Award — General and Professional StreamsTasmania uses a banded classification system under the Tasmanian State Service Award — General Stream Bands 1 through 10 plus Senior Executive Service, with the Professional Stream covering specialist professional roles at their own banded levels. The Award descriptors define work at each band by reference to the focus and framework of the work, and are the authoritative reference for what work the band involves.
Tasmania's scale shapes State Service work distinctively. Operational decisions are visible to ministers quickly, individual officers in mid-band positions often have direct visibility to senior executives, and the closeness raises both the standard for delivery quality and the opportunity for substantive influence. Local context (aquaculture, forestry, tourism, Antarctic research) is regularly weighted in applications.
The two territory public services.
The Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory both operate their own public services, with their own frameworks and classification structures. The ACT has a substantial federal-territory overlap that shapes how applications work; the NT has the single most distinctive application format in the country.
ACT Public Service
ACTPS Shared Capability FrameworkThe ACTPS uses the Shared Capability Framework structured around four ACTPS values: Service, Integrity, Accountability, Excellence. ASO classifications cover operational levels; Senior Officer Grade (SOG) classifications cover management. The structure is similar to federal APS but calibrated independently — an ACTPS SOG C is not equivalent to a federal EL1 just because both manage staff.
Canberra's federal-territory overlap shapes ACTPS applications distinctively. Most ACTPS candidates have federal APS exposure and need to recalibrate from ILS language to ACTPS Shared Capability language. Pasting a federal pitch into an ACTPS application form is a routinely-identified mistake. ACTPS roles also often interface with federal agencies operationally on intergovernmental matters.
Northern Territory Public Sector
NTPS Capability Framework (CF1–CF13)The NTPS has the most distinctive application format in Australia. The NTPS Recruitment and Selection Policy mandates that "job applications will be limited to a one-page summary with an attached resume" across all classifications regardless of agency or level. Approximately 700–750 words to demonstrate suitability against everything the role description tests for — typically five to ten capabilities woven into a single integrated piece of writing.
Two further features make NTPS work distinctive. Two-way cultural capability is built into the framework as a substantive capability area — the NT has the highest proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander residents of any Australian jurisdiction (around 30%). Remote service delivery is the operational norm rather than the exception, with the Aboriginal Interpreter Service operating as a routine working partner for many NT government roles.
Local government — roughly 540 councils nationally.
Australian local government is more fragmented than the federal or state public sectors. There is no single national framework. Each state's local government sector operates differently, and within each state individual councils have substantial autonomy over how they describe roles, structure selection criteria, and assess applications.
NSW local government is the most standardised. NSW councils use the LGNSW Local Government Capability Framework developed by Local Government NSW — structurally similar to the state PSCF but with four capability groups (Personal Attributes, Relationships, Results, Resources). Resources replaces Business Enablers in the state framework, recognising that council work has a stronger interface with physical assets and infrastructure.
Victorian local government uses the LG Pro Capability Framework as the sector reference, though many councils have adopted modified versions of the VPS framework or developed council-specific frameworks. Queensland local government is the most fragmented — Brisbane City Council has the most developed framework, but most other councils operate with their own approaches.
Smaller jurisdictions (WA, SA, Tasmania, NT, ACT) typically rely on council-specific frameworks. The practical implication is the same as for state government: identify which framework applies for the specific council and role before drafting, and tailor your application to that framework specifically rather than using a generic local government template.
Local government across Australia
Varies by state and councilLocal government work is distinctive from state and federal in two ways that should be reflected in applications. The community is the immediate audience for almost everything councils do — ratepayers, residents, businesses, community organisations. And councils deliver across a substantially broader range of functions than state government departments: planning, environmental health, community services, libraries, parks and recreation, waste, roads, water in some states, economic development, emergency management, cultural services.
Which jurisdiction should you apply to?
Most candidates already know which jurisdiction they're applying to — the role they want is in a specific agency and the jurisdiction is given. If you're choosing between jurisdictions rather than between roles, four considerations help.
Where do you want to live?
Federal roles concentrate in Canberra (departmental headquarters) with regional offices in other capitals and selected regional centres. State roles concentrate in the relevant state capital. Territory roles concentrate in Canberra or Darwin/Alice Springs. Local government is everywhere. Geography is often the binding constraint that decides the jurisdiction for you.
What kind of work do you want to do?
Federal departments tend to operate at policy and program design levels — the work shapes national rules and is delivered downstream. State agencies typically operate at policy plus direct service delivery — education, health, transport, justice are state responsibilities and the work has visible community outcomes. Local government operates at direct community-facing service delivery. Each has its own rhythm. Federal work is often abstract and consequential at distance; state and local work is often concrete and consequential nearby.
What's your career stage?
Federal recruitment runs the largest graduate intake in the country and is a strong entry point for graduates and early-career candidates. State and territory recruitment is competitive at entry level but often less competitive at mid-career operational levels, particularly in specialist or regional roles. Local government recruitment varies widely by council and by function — specialist functions (planning, environmental health, engineering) often have skill shortages and faster paths to senior roles.
What kind of jurisdiction-specific experience do you have?
Existing experience in one jurisdiction is generally portable to another, but the application format and framework language differ. A federal officer applying to NSW Public Sector needs to recalibrate from ILS to PSCF language. A NSW officer applying to Victoria needs to recalibrate from PSCF to VPS framework. The work is similar enough that the transition is usually successful — the application writing is the part that genuinely needs to change.
What's the same across every jurisdiction.
Frameworks differ, formats differ, language differs. But four things are consistent across every Australian public sector application, regardless of jurisdiction.
| Principle | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Merit-based selection | Every Australian public sector jurisdiction applies a merit principle to recruitment. The best candidate for the role wins, assessed against the role's stated criteria, with the panel obligated to make a defensible decision based on evidence. Applications that demonstrate capability against the actual criteria beat applications that merely assert it. |
| Evidence-based responses | Every framework expects evidence, not claims. "I have strong stakeholder management skills" is a claim. "I have managed relationships with three federal agencies, two state regulators, and a peak industry body across the past 18 months, including resolving a contested matter involving competing federal and state positions" is evidence. Specific examples beat general assertions in every framework. |
| Calibration to level | Every framework distinguishes proficiency or complexity by level. Pitching at the wrong level — over-claiming or under-claiming — is the single most common cause of unsuccessful applications across all jurisdictions. Read the framework's level descriptors carefully before drafting and write your evidence calibrated to the level you're applying for. |
| STAR-style response structure | The Situation-Task-Action-Result structure works across every framework, though the weighting varies. At senior levels the Action is where the capability evidence lives and should occupy 60–70% of the response. Situation and Task should be compressed; Result should be specific and outcome-focused. |
Across every jurisdiction, the highest-leverage thing you can do for your application is identify which framework applies, read the relevant level descriptors carefully, and write your evidence in that framework's language — not in the language of the framework you happen to know.
This is the principle that makes movement between jurisdictions possible. The underlying capabilities are similar; the language they're described in differs. Translating between them is the application writing.
Where to go next.
If you've identified your jurisdiction, the dedicated post for it has worked examples, level calibration, and common pitfalls specific to that jurisdiction.
If you're applying federally, start with our APS calibration guide, then read the specific guide for your target level: APS3, APS4, APS5, APS6, EL1, EL2, or SES.
For the underlying writing technique that applies across all jurisdictions, see our guides on STAR response structure and writing selection criteria.
For executive-level applications — SES, ECO, senior officer, and equivalent senior leadership roles — see our executive resume example with full worked sample.
Want help with your government application?
Our writers work across every Australian public sector jurisdiction. We calibrate every application to the specific framework and level the role requires, whether that's a federal pitch, a NSW PSCF criteria response, a Victorian KSC document, or an NTPS one-page summary. One-hour information-gathering session, drafts within three business days of payment, 14-day editing window with unlimited revisions.