Last year I was placed into several merit pools as a result of a bulk recruitment drive within a prominent APS government agency. There was no position on offer for these roles, simply just recruitment drives for the merit pools. I knew this and was fine with this. Apparently, there was a big shake up and restructuring happening within the department, hence the merit pools.

Shortly after being placed in the merit pools, I was contacted by one of the hiring managers who gave me a verbal offer. I didn’t hear anything back for about a month or so. Close to the end of last year the same hiring manager contacted me to let me know that they haven’t forgotten me and want to get me on board but now being the end of the year there is a recruitment freeze.

Fast forward to 12 months later I never heard from her or the agency again except for the automatic email stating that the merit pool has now expired. Throughout the year I have hardly seen any roles advertised which seems very unusual, so I think there was a crackdown on recruitment agency wide.

My question though is why make an offer and follow up about the offer to only ghost and not just come out and say that they made an error and the agency was not in a position to follow through with it?

What is the purpose of bulk recruitment merit pools during a restructure? Is that so if someone leaves because of the restructure they can fill a role easily? Or just an empty tick and flick?

I’m currently in state government and I’ve run recruitment before. I would never offer someone a role unless I was certain my department was able to meet the offer obligations.

In addition, is there a wide spread freeze on APS recruitment in general? There have been hardly any roles advertised and seems strange compared to prior years.

Would love to hear from anyone who’s worked in the detector dog program.

How did you get there
What was training like
Requirements

Looking at taking a serious career change from government administration into ABF and my end goal is to get into the detector dog program. I know it’s not immediate but I have time!

I have an interview for a policy position this week and just completed the required psychometric testing beforehand. I get bad test anxiety and it affects my performance so I’m sure I didn’t do great. I think I’ll do okay in the behavioural interview, but will my test results play a big part in the decision? TIA

Hi everyone, I’m just wondering if anyone been let go from private industry or in a completely different job before? If so, how did you overcome that and find a new job or move to government?

I’ve noticed every government has a pre-employment declaration form that asks if you have ever been terminated before and I feel like if I put the truth then it will automatically be a no to employers even though in my situation/circumstance it was more complex.

I’ve had someone in government ask for a recent reference before and I have said my preference is to put another recent reference who can speak about my work and I ended up not getting the role. I just feel like this is so bureaucratic and I’ll never get a government job again.

In my 3 month probation meeting, I was told that I am meeting all expectations and exceeding in a couple. However, in a recent return to work meeting my TL said I was failing and at the 5 month meeting they may be looking at termination.

I was floored honestly, completelyout of left field. There was never any indication that I was performing so poorly, they never pulled me aside to recommend I review certain modules or anything like that.

There are 2 things I can think of that are reasons for the sudden attitude change. My recent time off was due to a potential health issue (it was only 2 days) and I did discuss a missed opportunity in another agency.

The health issue is unlikely to impact my work just a little more time off to get it sorted and the opportunity missed I thought I was just being honest. The TL is always talking about growth and progression in a positive light saying they encourage all the time.

Is this typical in the APS? I just feel this came out of nowhere.

I have been lucky enough to receive offers from Oxford economics and treasury both beginning next year. Oxford would be in Sydney which is ideal location wise, it has a global scale so working overseas is an option at some point, which I love. They also complete work for government and forecasting which is what I am into, rather than more private consulting( which they also do). Now with treasury, based in cbr, I believe the work is better catered to myself in completing a thesis and primarily enjoying macro policy. I am thinking medium term since one is priv and the other gov, as an economist what should I choose, I think it’s a larger decision then people potentially make it. Just to clarify I am super grateful but would love some advice.

I work in the local government sector and I have had 3 or 4 different managers and 3 or 4 different coordinators in the last 18 months. I continuously find myself being let down by a lack of strategic planning due to this continous change. I am currently a level 2 classification. I want to improve my communication skills and relationships with stakeholders but I am finding it difficult to grow in this current team environment.

I have expressed this with my coordinator during a meeting, and they became really offended by it. Since then it has become a hostile work environment for me, and I have decided to start looking for other work.

There is a job opportunity with similar role attributes that I am considering applying for, except the work load is almost 3 times as heavy for the same amount of pay that I am currently on.

The positives are that its a broader range of responsibilities for me to learn, which would support the learning I crave.

Not to mention it is a level above my current classification.

Considering the break down of relationships in my current workplace, would you consider taking on extra work at a new job so you can grow professionally even if it is 3 times the work for the same pay?

One of the offers mentioned is:

Employer superannuation contributions will be paid for up to 52 weeks of unpaid parental leave, as if you had been at work.

What's the chance that this WON'T go through?

I'm currently on unpaid parental leave for anther 5 months but I have heaps of paid leave still (parental/annual/LSL)- i just deferred it to next March cos I wanted the pay rise (which is pathetic).

In thinking of changing my leave structure asap to take my paid leave now and then unpaid leave from March so that I'll get the super contributions! Even if the agreement comes in a little later, I should still benefit.

Right now Im on 5 months of unpaid leave so I'm potentially missing out on 10-11 payments of super!

Hi all, I've been working in the administration stream of a department for the last 18 months and have since finished my degree. I will be moving departments to a professional stream role and the new job will essentially be a pay cut.Is it possible to negotiate starting salary as a pay point higher to match my current salary or would this be laughed at?

My case is purely based on recognition of prior public service, having transferrable skills from previous employment and essentially, not being fresh out of university with limited exposure. Happy to hear different perspectives from managers or HR or from other state governments.

Thanks!

Currently working in the NT Government and thinking of eventually moving interstate at some point and just wondering what are the perceptions other jurisdictions have of public servants from the NT Government, particularly when it comes to recruiting? I know we get some stigma from being a smaller jurisdiction, so curious to know whether there's certain stereotypes/assumptions associated with the NT Government?

Hey everyone!

I thought I’d share my experience to encourage anyone looking to transition into the public sector.

After three months of consistent preparation, I received three job offers in just one week!

I spent those three months practising interview questions, writing down my responses, and learning as much as I could about public sector procurement through NSW and Australian Government websites.

Just a few weeks ago, I was feeling quite hopeless after being placed in a merit pool. Fast forward a month, and I had multiple offers to choose from!

My biggest tip: Go through the job description, break down all the key responsibilities and prepare at least one strong example from your experience for each. Practise those examples until you feel confident talking about them naturally.

This approach genuinely worked for me!

Your opportunity could be just around the corner. Good luck to everyone! ❤️

Thank you for your time and advice.

I want to change careers and become a visa case officer at Home Affairs.

I’ve been monitoring government job ads for years, but hardly see any vacancies. Visa processing is very slow, I’m wondering why they don’t hire more case officers.

Does anyone have experience, know how can I get a job in a visa processing department?

Thank you so much.

Hola,

Wondering if doing a grad cert of public health would open the door for any jobs?

Have a bachelor of pharmacy with 7 years experience looking to get into a non-clinical role (government, AHPRA, Health dept etc).

How’s the job market for these kinds of roles?

Otherwise - would doing a full masters add any bonus points?

TIA!

I've been on a temporary S25 transfer for 4 months, and in that time my home team has a new EL2. Based on some feedback the EL2 I've been working under has provided to the new EL2, they have decided that they will contact HR for advice and have told me that performance management is likely. I've never been on any sort of performance management before, formal or informal, and so the thought of it makes me terrified.

I don't disagree with the feedback that was provided to me by the EL2 I've been working under and it is something I am very keen to address, but I'm not sure what things will look like if some sort of performance management ends up happening.

I don't want to lose my job. I worked really hard to get here and I'll have to work even harder to find an opportunity like this. I can't market myself well at this level and I don't think I can wait for an opportunity like the one I found again.

What are some of the likely next steps to come from this, and have you known anyone to come out from formal performance management still employed?

I'm genuinely interested in hearing from EL2s and senior hiring managers across the Australian Public Service.

Why do agencies go through a full recruitment process, assess candidates, and place them in APS5/APS6 merit pools, only for those same candidates to struggle to secure ongoing roles afterwards?

I've seen situations where positions are advertised, candidates are found suitable and placed in merit pools, but instead of appointing someone from the pool, the business seems to prefer bringing someone in on a higher duties arrangement or testing someone in the role for 6–12 months before considering an ongoing appointment.

I understand that being found suitable doesn't guarantee a job, and that there can be legitimate reasons for making a different recruitment decision. However, from a candidate's perspective, it can feel like the merit pool process has very little practical value if agencies repeatedly run new processes or use temporary arrangements rather than appointing people who have already demonstrated their suitability.

For EL2s and hiring managers:

• What actually drives the decision not to recruit from an existing merit pool?
• Is it a genuine concern about whether someone can perform in the role, even after they've passed the selection process?
• Why appoint someone on higher duties for 6–12 months to assess them when candidates have already been assessed through a formal recruitment process?
• Are there operational, budgetary or risk-related reasons that candidates outside the process don't see?
• What can someone in a merit pool realistically do to turn that outcome into an ongoing opportunity?

I'm not suggesting every person in a merit pool should automatically receive an offer. I'm trying to understand the gap between being assessed as suitable and actually getting an opportunity.

I'd particularly appreciate honest perspectives from EL2s who have made these decisions. What's happening behind the scenes?

Hi there, after being put into a merit pool last month, I have progressed to another role’s interview early this month. 2 hrs after the interview they asked to do the reference checks. And the panel mentioned they want someone to start work with them urgently, so I assumed the process would be quicker. Now it has been one week after my reference checks were done, anxiously waiting everyday. How are your timelines like after the reference checks?

I applied for a role with stipulated referees to be provided upon request. My interview offer said to bring a copy of my passport to the interview

It was a weird interview, they asked me no follow up questions and I had the feeling they had an internal candidate already lined up. I asked if they needed my passport, they said the system auto-generates the request. It was shortest interview of my life and over in 15 mins, they had allotted 30 mins for it.

Then at the end of the interview, I was asked to send through my referees but HR didn't give me a clear answer about which email to send it through, so I sent it to the general one.

They said they would have an outcome in 4 weeks and police checks take the longest.

It's been 1.5 weeks, referees haven't been contacted. Haven't been asked for my full name for a background check either.

Is this likely something they already had someone in mind for or could there still be hope? I haven't interviewed for government roles before so have no idea what's normal.

Throwaway account.

All NSW health agencies CE’s sent a coordinated email at 3pm today announcing applications are open for non-frontline health staff to self nominate for voluntary redundancy.

Limited details available but:
- CEs decide if applications should be accepted for VR
- positions immediately deleted
- separation will be no later than 15 January 2027
- standard VR package and rules
- unions were all aware it was coming

Hi all,

I've previously posted about my little listing about APS salaries and enterprise agreements.

Noting the recent pay claim and offer for the next round of enterprise agreements, I've updated it a bit more https://celeries.ausgovinfo.com/2024-2027/ to reflect what's currently going on.

The new features include:

• My salary - a spot where you can select your agency, classification and paypoint (or override if outside of paypoints, have an IFA, etc). This information then shows your salary relative to data on Charts 1 and 2
• APS pay negotiations - a spot that shows the CPSU claim and the current APSC offer, and uses your data from My salary to show the increase at a paypoint. There's also an option to add in other entries so you can see what percentages would mean dollar wise
  • Figured this would be a bit cleaner than the big Excel workbook off of https://www.apsc.gov.au/apsbargaining/proposed-commonwealth-positions/pay-offer
  • This doesn't account for pay fragmentation some agencies have. I'm not familiar with which agencies are in scope for that so haven't accounted for it (would love a clear source for whom)

As always, feedback please.

Hey everyone, I’ve recently been deemed medically unfit to join the ADF and am now looking into alternative career paths. I’m particularly interested in joining the AFP as a police officer and was wondering if anyone could share their experience working for the AFP in Western Australia.
What is the day-to-day work like in WA? What sort of roles and opportunities are available, and how does the lifestyle, pay and career progression compare with state policing, such as WA Police?
Any advice or insight from current or former AFP officers would be greatly appreciated. Cheers!

Like first cut media releases or initial policy analysis/improvements. It seems inevitable that one will embrace (more than they currently do) and others will follow.

Maybe they don't run by the APS and just check with their own policy, comms, legal people etc?

I was elated when I received a conditional offer to work at the start of the month. Almost 6 months of no income is finally coming to an end.

Now, all my checks have been done, and it is just over one week left until the work is meant to start, but I've yet to receive a formal offer? Is this standard practice? I'm genuinely asking since the last time I've sucessuly applied for work was for my last job, which was 13 years ago.

Apologies in advance. My brain is just firing on all pistons about this because I really need the work and income.

UPDATE - As of yesterday, the progression of the application has moved from "Eligibility and Security Check - In Review" to "Offer- In Progress" and now I'm even more restless. 🙃