Australia Resume Format: The 2026 Guide
Two to three pages, no photo, referees with full contact details, working rights statement, AUD package vs base. The complete Australian resume structure for ASX corporates, banks, government, and tech, plus AI prompts to tailor each application.
By Michael Okeje, Founder of GPTPrompts.AI
The Australian resume in 2026 sits between UK and US conventions in some ways and entirely apart from both in others. Like the UK, it is photo-free, follows Australian English spelling, and excludes personal details under anti-discrimination law. Like the US, it leans heavily on quantified outcomes and a results-led tone. Apart from both, it is conventionally longer (2 to 3 pages versus 2 strict for UK and 1 to 2 for US), opens with a Key Skills box in addition to a Career Profile, and ends with a Referees section listing 2 to 3 named referees with full contact details. Australian Public Service applications add a Statement Addressing Selection Criteria, which is a separate document responding to numbered criteria using the STAR method.
This guide covers the complete Australian resume structure for 2026, the Seek and PageUp ATS landscape, the Australian Public Service selection criteria convention, the cultural 'tall poppy' tone considerations, and the AI prompts that handle private sector and public sector tailoring. It also covers localisation steps for international candidates applying for Australian roles with VETASSESS-assessed credentials and visa-based working rights.
Australian Resume vs UK CV vs US Resume: What is Different
Same candidate, three different conventions. The differences that matter when applying to Sydney, London, or New York.
| Element | Australia | UK | US |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name of document | Resume or CV | CV (never resume) | Resume |
| Length | 2 to 3 pages | 2 pages maximum | 1 page under 10 yrs; 2 senior |
| Paper size | A4 | A4 | Letter |
| Key Skills box near top | Standard | Optional | Rare |
| Working Rights statement | Standard for non-citizens | Rare; asked separately | Rare; asked separately |
| Referees on resume | 2 to 3 named with contact details | Available on request | Available on request |
| Public sector application | APSJobs + Selection Criteria (STAR) | Civil Service Jobs + Behaviours | USAJobs + KSAs |
| Salary discussion | Package (inc. super) vs Base | Annual base in GBP | Annual base in USD |
| Dominant ATS | Seek + PageUp + Workday | Workday + iCIMS + SmartRecruiters | Workday + Greenhouse + Lever |
| Cultural tone | Quantified, no over-claiming ('tall poppy') | Reserved, evidence-based | Confident, results-led |
How to Write an Australian Resume: 7 Steps
Set up the document with Australian conventions
Open Word or Google Docs and set the page size to A4 with 2 cm margins. Use Calibri, Arial, or Helvetica at 11 points body text, 12 to 13 points for section headings, and 18 to 20 points for your name at the top. Place your name at the top left or centre, followed by Suburb + State + Postcode, phone with +61 country code, email, and LinkedIn URL. Save the master file as .docx for Seek profile uploads and recruiter agency submissions, and convert to PDF for direct corporate portal submissions. Maintain a single-column layout that parses cleanly through Seek, PageUp, and Workday.
Add a Working Rights statement for non-citizens
If you are not an Australian citizen, add a single line directly under contact details: 'Working Rights: Permanent Resident' or 'Working Rights: Subclass 482 TSS visa, eligible for sponsorship transfer' or 'Working Rights: Subclass 485 Temporary Graduate visa valid until [date]' or 'Working Rights: Working Holiday visa (417), valid until [date]'. This pre-empts the recruiter’s most common gating question. Australian citizens and PR holders typically also include this line for federal government and security-cleared roles where it is explicitly required. Do not list TFN, passport number, or visa number, all of which are unsolicited personal data.
Write a Career Profile and Key Skills box
Underneath your contact and working rights lines, write a 4 to 6 line Career Profile that synthesises years and type of experience, your specialism, two or three named achievements, and what you are looking for next. Write in third person without 'I'. Directly below, add a Key Skills box with 6 to 10 named skills grouped logically and quantified where possible ('Budget management up to 14M AUD', 'Team leadership up to 22 direct and matrix reports', 'Stakeholder management across 4 ASX-100 client engagements'). Avoid soft adjective dumps. Specific and quantified reads as confident; adjective-heavy reads as overclaiming.
Build the Work Experience section with quantified outcomes
List roles in reverse-chronological order. For each: job title, company name, city + state, and date range (Month YYYY to Present or Month YYYY to Month YYYY). Underneath, write 4 to 6 bullet points that lead with strong action verbs (built, led, launched, reduced, scaled, delivered) and quantify outcomes in AUD, percentage, or headcount terms. Australian recruiters scan for results, not responsibilities, and react poorly to soft adjective dumps. Replace 'Responsible for managing customer accounts' with 'Managed 47 enterprise customer accounts totalling 12.4M AUD in annual revenue; renewed 94 percent in FY2025.' Detail recent roles (2 to 3 most recent) and condense earlier roles to one line plus 2 bullets.
Add Education, Professional Development, and optional Volunteer sections
List education in reverse-chronological order following AQF conventions: qualification, institution, city + state, year, and any honours. For international credentials, include the VETASSESS or AITSL Australian equivalency where assessed. Professional Development section lists active certifications and training with issuing body and date (PMP 2023, PRINCE2 Practitioner 2022, AWS Solutions Architect Associate 2024). For regulated professions (nursing, teaching, engineering, accounting), include the relevant Australian registration (AHPRA, AITSL, Engineers Australia CPEng, CA ANZ or CPA Australia). Optional Volunteer section is valued in non-profit, public service, and traditional corporate applications.
Add a Referees section with 2 to 3 named referees
At the bottom of the resume, add a Referees section listing 2 to 3 named referees with their job title, company, phone number, and email. Suggested mix: most recent manager (mandatory), a peer or skip-level manager from a prior role, and optionally a senior client or stakeholder. Ask each referee for permission before listing them, give them a heads-up before each application that they may be contacted, and ensure their contact details are current. For tech and startup roles, 'Referees available on request' is acceptable. For financial services, public sector, healthcare, and traditional corporates, listing 2 to 3 named referees is conventional and recruiters routinely call them before offer.
Tailor with AI, verify with Jobscan, write a Selection Criteria response if needed
Open ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini and use the AI prompt below to tailor the Career Profile, Key Skills, and Work Experience to the specific job posting. Specify Australian English, Australian recruitment vocabulary, single-column layout for Seek and PageUp, and AUD or percentage quantification. After the AI rewrite, paste the resume into Jobscan or Seek profile completeness check for keyword match against the job description. Aim for 75 percent or higher keyword match. For Australian Public Service or state government roles, separately generate a two-page Statement Addressing Selection Criteria using STAR method against each numbered criterion. Save the final document as PDF for direct portal submissions and .docx for Seek and recruiter agency uploads.
Career Profile Examples (Australian Convention)
Three examples across career stages. Specific, quantified, named outcomes. No 'top-performing visionary' soft-adjective dumps.
Recent Bachelor of Engineering (Software, First Class Honours) graduate from the University of Melbourne (2025), with 12-month industrial placement at Atlassian where I built a Python-based release automation tool now used by 14 product teams. Strong interests in cloud-native engineering and developer tooling. Seeking a Graduate Software Engineer role at a Sydney or Melbourne-based tech company. Working Rights: Australian citizen. Open to relocation across Australia.
Senior project manager with 9 years experience delivering SaaS implementation programs for ASX-listed financial services clients, including a 14M AUD core banking migration at Bank of Queensland that finished 6 weeks ahead of schedule and 8 percent under budget, and a 4-year regulatory program at Westpac under APRA CPS 234. PMP and PRINCE2 Practitioner certified. Seeking a Senior PM or Program Manager role at an ASX-100 bank or insurer in Sydney or Melbourne. Working Rights: Australian Permanent Resident.
Director-level technology leader with 14 years experience across ASX-100 retail, telecommunications, and financial services, currently Head of Engineering at a Series C Sydney fintech leading a 38-person team across Australia and New Zealand. Track record includes a 22 percent reduction in production incidents over 18 months, scaling team headcount from 14 to 38 while maintaining 92 percent annual retention, and shipping the core trading platform that processed 4.2B AUD in monthly volume in FY2025. Seeking a Director of Engineering or VP Engineering role at a Series C+ Australian tech company. Working Rights: Australian citizen.
AI Prompts to Tailor an Australian Resume
Production-tested prompts for ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, with Jobscan and Seek profile completeness as the verification step.
Common Australian Resume Mistakes
1. Soft adjective dumps that trigger the 'tall poppy' reflex
'Outstanding leader, visionary thinker, top-performing manager with a passion for excellence' reads as overclaiming in Australian recruitment context. Replace every soft adjective with a specific number or named outcome. 'Led an 8-person team across Sydney and Melbourne' beats 'outstanding team leader'. Specific and quantified reads as confident; adjective-heavy reads as boasting.
2. Submitting a US single-page resume to an APS role
Australian Public Service applications require a separate two-page Statement Addressing Selection Criteria using the STAR method against each numbered criterion. A one-page US resume without the Selection Criteria response is incomplete and routinely culled at the first screening pass. Use the AI prompt above to generate the response and submit both documents.
3. Listing 'Referees available on request' for a financial services role
For ASX-listed financial services, public sector, healthcare, and traditional corporate applications, 2 to 3 named referees with full contact details are conventionally listed at the bottom of the resume. 'Available on request' reads as under-prepared in these sectors. Ask 2 to 3 referees for permission ahead of time, list them, and give them a heads-up before each application that they may be called.
4. Confusing Package and Base salary
Australian salaries are commonly quoted as Package (including the 11.5 percent Superannuation Guarantee plus any bonuses or benefits) or Base (salary only, exclusive of super). Saying 'I’m on 110K' without clarifying creates a 12 percent discrepancy between candidate expectation and recruiter understanding. Always clarify: 'Total package 120,000 AUD (110,000 base + super + bonus)' or 'Base 110,000 AUD + 11.5% super.'
5. Two-column resume that breaks Seek and PageUp parsing
Seek’s parser and PageUp both handle single-column layouts cleanly and struggle with two-column designs, sidebars, text boxes, and embedded images. The visually impressive two-column resume that looks great as a PDF often parses into garbled order in the recruiter’s database, with skills mixed into the wrong experience block. Single-column, standard section headings, no text boxes.
6. Omitting Working Rights for an international applicant
Australian recruiters at Sydney and Melbourne tech and finance companies screen heavily for sponsorship-free candidates because subclass 482 TSS sponsorship is slow and expensive. State your status explicitly. Omitting Working Rights for a name that reads as international defaults the recruiter to assume sponsorship is needed and may cull the application.