Career Opportunities: APS5 - Program & Policy Officers, Affirmative Measures, First Nations (48310)

Requisition ID48310-Posted05/11/2026-$89,225-$96,829- Location of Position (5) -Ongoing/Non-Ongoing-Full Time/Part Time

APS5 - Program & Policy Officers, Regional Development, Northern Australia and Local Government, Aff

Title:

APS5 - Program & Policy Officers, Regional Development,
Northern Australia and Local Government, Aff

Business Division:

Regional Development, Northern Australia & Local Government

Branch / Section:

Office of Northern Australia

Location:

We want to recruit the best people to our department. Our roles support flexible work arrangements including the opportunity to work from one of our departmental offices and hybrid (mixture of office and home-based work).

These roles are located in Cairns; Darwin; Perth; Townsville.

A merit pool may be formed and used to fill future similar vacancies in these locations and other locations within the same metropolitan area.

The filling of this vacancy is intended to constitute an affirmative measure under section 8(1) of the 'Racial Discrimination Act 1975'. This vacancy is only available to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait people.

The opportunity we have available

The Office of Northern Australia is a multi-disciplinary branch driving the economic and social advancement of Northern Australia. We oversee the Government’s $7 billion Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) special investment vehicle, coordinate cross-jurisdictional frameworks, and deliver the Northern Australia Action Plan. We are seeking motivated, highly organised APS5 Program and Policy Officers to join our division.



These roles provide essential programmatic support across our governance, economic policy, social policy, and strategic engagement streams. Working with us offers a clear pathway to develop your qualified public service skills within a supportive team that values growth and collaboration.

What you will do

- Program and financial support: Assisting with the processing of documentation, tracking financial administration tasks for the NAIF special appropriation, and maintaining risk registers.
- Research and analysis assistance: Gathering data and conducting initial research and analysis to support broader economic, social policy, and IRG initiatives.
- Secretariat and event assistance: Helping coordinate logistics, collate agenda papers, and distribute materials for the Northern Australia Ministerial Forum (NAMF) or external engagement events.
- Workflow coordination: Managing central intake mailboxes, tracking ministerial and parliamentary workflows, and ensuring accurate corporate records management.

Inherent requirements for the role

The inherent requirements for this role include:

- The successful candidate for this position will be able to demonstrate their capability against the APS5 Work level standards .




- Support the department’s commitments to the National Closing the Gap Agreement and the Our Stories on Country Agreement by embedding First Nations perspectives into infrastructure policy, program delivery, and stakeholder engagement.
- Ability to prioritise everyday workflows, work effectively within a small team, and meet scheduled deadlines.
- Robust written and verbal communication skills to draft correspondence and interact professionally with a wide network of stakeholders.
- A proactive mindset with a willingness to learn new systems quickly and look for process improvements.

The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts is committed to supporting the employment and career development of people with disability. Our participation in APS RecruitAbility means we will progress an applicant with disability to a further stage in the recruitment process, where they opt into RecruitAbility and meet the minimum requirements for the vacancy.

The RecruitAbility minimum requirements are listed above under ‘inherent requirements for the role’.

You will be asked to indicate if you wish to opt into RecruitAbility in the application form. You must tick the 'opt in' box to participate in RecruitAbility. Simply declaring that you have a disability will not automatically include you.

We provide reasonable adjustments such as access, equipment or other practical support at relevant stages of the recruitment process. Please advise in the application form or get in touch with the contact officer if you need any adjustments made.

The department believes every role contributes to cultural safety and that building staff cultural capability helps us deliver better policies

📌 Program & Policy Officers, Affirmative Measures, First Nations (Australia)
🏢 Australian Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development
📍 Australia