Hi,

I have been offered an assistant position with the Federal Court of Aus, but am in the merit pool for a grad program with Services Australia. I have accepted the court offer already, but am unsure whether I should take the grad program if I am offered it. I did not study law but I have admin experience, and I think I'd like to work in policy/project officer. Is it better to establish myself in the first role for a while, or quit early and move to the grad role for the long term?

I’ve recently transitioned from the private sector (commercial law) to an APS6 role (policy analyst). I work in a small project team and some of the other APS6 staff are commenting that I shouldn’t be putting in such long hours.

Maybe it’s just my experience in a law firm, as I’m usually working 9-6 with a half hour-ish lunch break, and feel like I’m living the dream.

Should I be clocking off at 5?

I've just realised I may have made a minor error in my selection criteria for a job application. However, my examples are pretty solid and follow the STAR format exactly. I'm just wondering how harshly is the criteria marked? This has got me stressing out cos this is a job I was really keen for. Obviously too late to do anything about it now because the application due date has passed.

Hi i have a temp contract that doesnt have probation nor notice period for resigning. Is this normal?

Hi everyone,
I recently completed the written assessment and one-way video interview for an APS4 position at DEWR. Today, I received an email requesting referee details.

Does this mean there probably won’t be a face-to-face or Teams interview with a panel? I thought the one-way video interview was mainly used to shortlist candidates for the next stage.

Has anyone recently gone through the DEWR APS4 recruitment process and can share their experience? Did you have a panel interview after the reference check, or was the reference check the final stage?
Thanks!

Fascinating FOI released by the NIAA today, after a long battle on the RightToKnow website, about staff use of communal ovens.

https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/use_of_kitchen_appliances

Apparently someone has been cooking something with an offensive smell.

What could it have been? Fish curry?

What offensive/annoying things have you smelt in APS kitchens over the years?

I have been placed in the merit pool at ATO recently. Is anyone the same? Have you received any offer?

Has anyone been following the culture review into Northern NSW Rescue Helicopter?

The ABC reported that 20% of survey respondents had experienced or witnessed sexual harassment over five years, and 28% had experienced or witnessed bullying. There were also concerns about how complaints were handled. Yet the public messaging has focused on the finding that there wasn’t a systemic toxic workplace culture.

Only 33 pages of the 207-page review have been publicly released.
What I find particularly concerning is that the NSW Ambulance Advisory Board raised serious concerns in August about the lack of transparency from Northern NSW Helicopter Rescue Service and the possibility of another five-year contract.

NSW Health has reportedly received the full report, so I’d be interested to know what consideration is being given to those concerns before any decision about extending the contract.
It raises a bigger question for me about how workplace culture and misconduct are actually considered in government contracting decisions.
And what about the people who reported sexual harassment? How do they have confidence in these processes when the findings are presented this way?
I’d also be interested to know whether women who had previously signed NDAs were able to speak freely during the review.

For anyone working in the public sector, is this something you’ve seen before? Serious concerns raised, reviews conducted, recommendations made, but very little visible accountability?
ABC article:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10-27/northern-nsw-rescue-helicopter-culture-review/107314676