Australia Resume Format: The 2026 Guide

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.