As an Arts and Humanities Graduate there are multiple opportunities for you in Defence. Explore the different kinds of roles you can undertake in the Defence Graduate Program below. Within each Pathway you will rotate through several roles.
Remember, you can preference two Pathways in your application!
Policy roles work at the heart of Defence’s strategic centre within Strategy, Policy, and Industry Group. Defence’s Policy Officers directly contribute to protecting Australia’s national security and furthering our national interests.
Working within Strategy, Policy, and Industry Group is more than just a job, it offers opportunities over the course of a career to work across diverse policy issues, regulation, program management, procurement and administration. We strongly encourage mobility across the Group (including Contestability, Defence Industry Policy, Strategic Policy and International Policy divisions).
Policy roles within Strategy, Policy, and Industry Group take part in:
- Devising and applying strategy to give effect to government intent
- Setting the policy frameworks that govern ADF operations and Defence international engagement
- Guiding industry to deliver capability for the ADF and national economic growth and
- Contesting enterprise decisions and advice to government to ensure quality outcomes and optimise the impact and benefits of government’s investment in Defence.
Strategy, Policy, and Industry Group is a fully integrated civilian-military workforce and draw on high-quality and motivated people from diverse backgrounds and academic disciplines.
In a policy role you will be provided formal and informal training, mentoring and networking opportunities that will provide you with a solid foundation to pursue a policy career within Defence and the wider Australian Public Service.
Your ability to think critically, together with your inquisitive nature, will enhance the formal training provided to you. If you are looking for meaningful and challenging work while contributing to the defence of Australia’s interests both here and overseas – we encourage you to apply.
Find out more and apply for the Policy and Corporate Pathway.
We are a participating agency in the Generalist Australian Government Graduate stream. Applying to one of these streams means you only have to go through the application and selection process once to be considered for a range of Australian Government agencies.
As a Generalist Graduate in Defence, you will join the Policy and Corporate pathway. You will develop a thorough understanding of what Defence does, and the opportunities it offers.
Our successful candidates are professional, self-motivated team players, who possess high level communication and interpersonal skills and adapt easily to change. You will be committed to your own learning and development and share Defence’s values and vision for the future. We will provide you with experiences in three work rotations covering a variety of roles within the Department and will help you develop the necessary professional skills required for a long-lasting career. In each rotation you will have real tasks and responsibilities, and be fully integrated into the work team to ensure you reach your full potential.
We are committed to helping you develop further by providing a suite of training designed for the Program covering personal, technical, departmental and public-service wide skills.
Areas you may work in include:
- Strategic management in Navy, Army or Air Force
- Tender and contract negotiations
- Capability analysis
- Event coordination
- Strategic policy
- Ministerial and Parliamentary liaison
- Environmental issues
- Administrative and business support
- Educational services
- Corporate governance
- Public affairs and media liaison
- Project management
- Contracting, program and project administration
- Purchasing
- International engagement policy
- Long-term planning on future force structure and capability
- Legal, para-legal and legal administrative positions for law graduates
Find out more and apply for the Policy and Corporate Pathway
The Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) is a vital member of Australia’s national intelligence community. Our motto, Reveal their secrets. Protect our own, summarises our roles: we collect foreign intelligence by interception; we provide advice and assistance on cyber security to make Australia the safest place to connect online; and we conduct offensive cyber operations in support of the Australian Government and Australian Defence Forces (ADF). We are looking for graduates from almost every discipline to work in analyst or corporate roles.
To achieve its mission, ASD requires people with strong integrity and a mix of specialist skills, adaptability, imagination, resilience and creativity.
These abilities are needed to out-think and out-imagine some of the most testing adversaries and problems imaginable. If you want to work with other smart, skilled people, consider ASD.
You will receive training in our specialised systems and enjoy working in multidisciplinary teams. You may have opportunities to travel domestically and internationally. You will be encouraged and supported to continually develop your skills to keep pace with evolving priorities and technologies. We are committed to the growth of our most important resource – our staff.
Diversity powers ASD’s mission. Our work is challenging, and experience shows that the best teams contain clever people with different life experiences.
All civilian roles in ASD are flexible and accommodate part-time or full-time working arrangements.
As an analyst, you can undertake a diverse range of complex tasks – from foreign language analysis to data analysis. Your role will vary, depending on your skills and the role of your team in supporting either ASD's foreign intelligence, cyber security or offensive cyber operations mission.
As a technologist, you can work in areas as diverse as software development, database administration, system design, architecture, testing and maintenance through to cyber security roles including reverse engineering, forensic analysis and intrusion detection. You could have the opportunity to build and maintain everything from secure workstations to high-end supercomputers or develop innovative tools to enable our offensive cyber operations.
Working in corporate roles, you will have the opportunity to develop and shape ASD’s future. We have roles in business management, communications, governance, finance, people management, policy, security and recruitment just to name a few.
You will have the opportunity to rotate through different roles to find the best fit for you. You can find out more at the ASD Website.
Find out more about working in Cyber and Information Security by visiting the ASD website, then come back here to apply.
Understanding what happens where and when, underpins all strategic and operational decisions. At the Australian Geospatial-Intelligence Organisation (AGO), you will inform decision making at the highest levels of government and contribute towards the protection of Australia’s national security. You will provide unique insights into international developments and critical support to ADF operations and activities.
AGO provides Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT) in support of Australia’s Defence Force, broader Australian Government and National Intelligence Community priorities. GEOINT is derived from the exploitation and analysis of imagery and geospatial data that informs our understanding of features and events, with reference to space and time.
AGO Graduate Program:
We are looking for highly skilled and motivated graduates from a diverse range of degrees and backgrounds to deliver GEOINT to key customers and position our organisation for the future.
Working at AGO will put you at the forefront of the National Intelligence Community where you will work with a country, regional or thematic focus and contribute towards cutting edge projects, such as the development of Australia’s sovereign satellite capability. You will receive specialised and unique GEOINT training, gain exposure to the broader Australian Government and have the opportunity to participate in international and domestic travel.
Analyst Careers
AGO is seeking graduates to undertake detailed and sophisticated analytical intelligence work. We require our graduates to have excellent analytical, problem solving, research and communication skills. Our graduates will research, analyse and report on a country or region or a specific thematic international issue to meet the requirements of customers ranging from Australian Government seniors to tactical users.
To fill these important roles, we require graduates with the following disciplines:
- Spatial Sciences
- Engineering
- Arts
- Information Technology
- Social Sciences
- Data Science
- Physics
- Mathematics
Skills in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), coding and scripting, remote sensing, including radar, spectral and infrared are highly desirable but not mandatory as AGO can offer you a range of interesting training opportunities.
Technical Careers
AGO is undertaking large scale cutting-edge Defence projects, including planning for the Australian Government’s first sovereign satellite capability and delivering cutting edge IT systems. We are seeking graduates with specialised skills to assist us with this work.
Graduates will play a critical role in developing and being part of these cutting edge projects. To fill these important roles, we require graduates with the following disciplines:
- Space, Software and Systems Engineering
- Computer Science
- Computer Systems
- Mathematics
- Data Science
- Physics
Corporate Careers
AGO is seeking graduates to undertake a broad range of work in our corporate and capability areas in support of AGO’s mission.
Graduates will play a critical role in supporting AGO’s leading future capability projects. You will have the opportunity to deliver strategic and operational support across the organisation. To fill these important roles, we require graduates with the following disciplines:
- Commerce, economics, financial management and accounting
- Arts
- Legal
- Communication
- Project and Risk Management
Curious? Find out more https://www.defence.gov.au/ago/careers.htm
As a Defence Intelligence Organisation (DIO) analyst, you will provide strategic intelligence analysis to the Defence Minister, senior Defence staff, other Government agencies and policymakers. Your assessments and advice will help the Australian Government and the Australian Defence Force understand international developments and how they affect Australia’s security. Your work as an analyst will include supporting Australian civilian and military Defence personnel deployed on operations around the world, by identifying vulnerabilities and potential countermeasures to mitigate this risk.
Intelligence Analyst Roles
An Intelligence Analyst within DIO conducts all-source analysis focusing on support to military operations; terrorism; regional security; foreign military capabilities; cyber threats; Defence-related technologies; political; economic; geographic and thematic issues.
Scientific Analyst Roles
A Scientific Analyst within DIO conducts unique specialist all-source analysis focusing on specific areas of military interest, including nuclear, chemical and biological proliferation; strategic health issues; emerging technologies; and WMD-related weapons systems. This analysis informs whole-of-government consideration of major development projects and policy objectives regarding WMD and strategic health issues.
Technical Analyst Roles
A Technical Analyst within DIO conducts all-source analysis of threat weapons systems and platforms, including future threat. They may also look at emerging and disruptive technologies with military applications and may also conduct complex modelling and simulation activities and work on signatures predictions. This analysis informs government consideration of major acquisition projects worth billions of dollars, such as the future submarines, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the Air Warfare Destroyer.
Throughout your career as a DIO analyst, you will be encouraged to develop novel analytic approaches and test conventional thinking. You will personally brief senior Defence officials, and build highly effective and collaborative professional relationships with intelligence customers and collectors. You will work in a supportive, collaborative and encouraging environment that will challenge, extend and reward you.
In all of DIO’s analytic roles, you will be given the opportunity to advance your subject matter expertise and to develop your intelligence tradecraft skills through an extensive training program and attendance at a wide variety of domestic and international forums.