Minister for Finance, Minister for Women, Minister for the Public Service
Regional communities across Australia will be the beneficiaries of new Australian Public Service (APS) jobs as part of the APS Academy Campus Initiative which is now open for applications.
The APS Academy Campuses will enable Australians wanting a career-change and students in Darwin, Newcastle, Launceston and Townsville to skill up in data and digital roles in the APS, while remaining at home in their communities.
The APS Academy Campuses will offer around 300 flexible data and digital training and entry-level employment opportunities with the APS over three years.
This includes paid apprenticeships, cadetships and internships, with graduate placements to follow in 2024. Programs range from short-term internships to one to three year placements where students earn as they learn.
From early 2023, APS Academy Campuses will be co-located at the University of Newcastle, with campuses at Charles Darwin University in Darwin and James Cook University in Townsville opening mid-2023. A further APS Academy Campus will open at the University of Tasmania in Launceston in 2024.
While the APS Academy Campuses will be located at universities, they include opportunities for students to undertake vocational education and training (VET) or tertiary study while working as APS employees.
Minister for the Public Service, Senator the Hon Katy Gallagher, said the Government is taking steps to address the national skills shortage when it comes to highly skilled workers in the data and digital space.
"Like the private sector, the APS is struggling to find enough people with the technical skills to fill roles in the data and digital space, but this Academy program is the latest positive step in the right direction to deal with this issue and to ultimately keep those workers in the APS."
"People have told us that they want to have careers in the APS but don't always want to leave the communities where they live, simply to take up new training opportunities interstate.
"That's why we have decided to make these training opportunities available in some of our larger regional towns and cities. This will attract aspiring public servants who will get the right skills to have the best chance at jobs in the APS while continuing to contribute to the places that they call home.
"This is an exciting program and I encourage anyone that is considering a career in the data and digital space to apply for the APS Academy Campus Initiative," Minister Gallagher concluded.
Some of the potential data and digital careers in the APS include data analysts and scientists, cyber security analysts, user researchers, software engineers, web developers, programmers and system designers.
