How to Write an Australian Resume & Cover Letter — Format, Examples, WHV/New-Arrival Focus

How to write an Australian resume & cover letter — format, examples, WHV/new-arrival focus

Office 2–3 page vs casual 1-page formats, the convention of omitting photos and date of birth, ATS keywords, the two-referee convention and stating 'full working rights' — the standards of Australian job application documents, with our own examples.

What an Australian resume is — how it differs from your home country's format

Australia has no legally mandated resume format, but the conventions accepted in the job market are very clear. The key is not 'what you did' but 'what you achieved' — write around duties and results, and keep personal details to a minimum. Items from resumes back home such as photos, date of birth, family details and handwritten signatures simply do not exist in the Australian format, and the standard application package is two documents: a resume and a cover letter. Note that outside academia, 'resume' and 'CV' are used almost interchangeably in Australia.

Office 2–3 pages vs casual 1 page — even the length differs

For office and professional roles, 2–3 pages showing achievements and scope of responsibility is the standard. For casual, hospitality and farm jobs, on the other hand, hiring staff skim dozens of resumes a few seconds each, so you stake everything on one page — the convention is to place certificates such as RSA (Responsible Service of Alcohol) and White Card, plus an availability table (hours available by day), at the very top. For example, if you have just arrived on a Working Holiday visa and are looking for café work, a one-page resume showing your RSA and 'available full-time including weekends' on the first screen is far more effective than a two-page career history. The process of actually obtaining the certificates is covered separately in the RSA and White Card certificates guide.

The standard resume structure — the order to fill from top to bottom

The standard Australian resume runs top to bottom: header → Career Profile (2–3 line summary) → Key Skills → Work Experience (most recent first) → Education → Certificates/Licences → Referees. If you are on a Working Holiday visa or newly arrived, your first customisation is to flex this order and move certificates and availability up. Compress each role into title, company, dates and 2–3 lines of key achievements, and attach numbers to achievements wherever possible.

Why photos, date of birth, marital status and nationality are left out — the background

Under Australia's federal anti-discrimination law framework (which prohibits discrimination on the basis of age, gender, race, marital status and similar attributes, overseen by the Australian Human Rights Commission), hiring discrimination based on these attributes is prohibited. Because it is safer for employers not to receive information they must not use in hiring decisions in the first place, it has become the standard convention for applicants, too, to leave photos, date of birth, marital status and nationality off the resume. An employer who asks 'why is there no photo' would be the exception. If a new arrival includes a photo and date of birth out of home-country habit, it can read as a signal of unfamiliarity with local conventions — leave them out from the start.

Header: name, Australian phone number (+61), email, and only your residential suburb and state (no full address needed). Placing a single work-rights line ('Full working rights', or your visa stated truthfully) in the header speeds up screening.
Our own Career Profile example: 'Reliable hospitality worker with two years of café experience gained overseas, RSA certified, available for an immediate start including weekends.' — compress your role, strengths and availability into three lines or fewer.
Most recent first + achievement statements: instead of listing tasks like 'Served customers', attach scale and results like 'Handled 150+ customers per shift while maintaining food safety standards'. For overseas experience, note the city and country next to the employer's name (company, city, country).

'Translating' an overseas job title into the name commonly used in Australia is natural, but inflating your seniority, dates of employment or scope of duties is a different matter. A single reference check exposes it, and once trust is lost, it is hard to recover within the same local industry.

The cover letter — structure and our own examples

A cover letter is a one-page document that answers the question your resume cannot: 'why this company, why this role'. The structure is: ① name the role and where you saw the ad ② connect 2–3 key requirements from the ad to your experience one-to-one ③ show specific interest in that company or venue ④ request an interview and give your contact details. Find the recipient's name in the ad or on the company website; if you cannot, start with 'Dear Hiring Manager'.

Our own opening-paragraph example (WHV/new arrival): 'I am writing to apply for the Café All-Rounder position advertised on your website. I hold a current RSA and am available seven days a week, including early starts.' — the role, key qualification and availability in two sentences.
Matching paragraph: if the ad asks for 'customer service experience', pick up that exact phrase and write 'In my previous café role, I provided customer service to 150+ customers daily...'. Reusing the ad's wording works on both the ATS and the human reader.
Closing-paragraph example: 'I would welcome the opportunity to discuss how I can contribute to your team, and I am available for an interview at any time.' — request the interview politely but not passively.

Do not copy paid template sentences from other sites verbatim — hiring managers have seen the same sentences countless times. As in the examples above, even short sentences containing your own certificates, availability and experience are better. For casual applications, 3–4 sentences in the body of the application email often take the place of a cover letter.

Four resume formats by job type and situation

Even for the same person, the resume format should change with the job being applied for. Here are the four most common cases compared. In every case, the application process and interview stage that follow connect to the job-hunting guide and the interview preparation guide.

Office & professional (Professional)

2–3 pages. Write your Career Profile and Key Achievements around numbers, and if your overseas employer is not known locally, explain the company's size and industry in one line. Keep the content consistent with your LinkedIn profile.

Casual & Hospitality

1 page. Place certificates such as RSA, barista and Food Safety, plus an availability table, at the very top. This is the standard format for a first Working Holiday job — 'available for an immediate start' and weekend availability are powerful weapons.

Construction, farm and other site work

1 page. For construction, the White Card is effectively a must-list item, and a driver's licence, willingness to travel regionally and your available start date are key. For farm jobs, stating your fitness and openness to longer-term work works in your favour.

Zero Australian experience — new arrivals

Write your overseas experience in English and restructure it around transferable skills. Reinforce your local signals with Australian certificates, volunteering and short courses, but never invent experience to fill gaps — compete on the facts.

Pre-application checklist of 5 — ATS, referees and stating work rights

Once your documents are complete, check these five things before sending. For Working Holiday makers and new arrivals in particular, how you state your work rights and prepare referees makes the difference.

ATS keywords: medium and large employers screen applications with software (ATS, Applicant Tracking System) first. Use the exact job-related wording from the ad, and check the standard skills and terminology for each occupation in the occupation profiles on the government site yourcareer.gov.au. Tables, images and two-column layouts are the main causes of parsing failures.
Two referees: your most recent supervisor or manager is best, and always get consent in advance. For overseas referees, note the country and time zone (e.g. UTC+9) next to their name and title, plus a preference for email contact. Writing 'Referees available on request' and providing details at the final stage is also accepted.
One line of work rights: permanent residents and citizens write 'Full working rights in Australia'; conditional visas are stated truthfully, e.g. 'Valid Australian working rights (Working Holiday visa)'. There is no need to attach copies of visa documents to your resume — the official process is for the employer to verify through VEVO, with your consent, at the hiring stage.
Availability table (essential for casual): set out the hours you can work by day, in a table or a single line. E.g. 'Available: Mon–Fri after 3pm, Sat–Sun all day'. If you overreach by writing 'always available' and cannot deliver, you will be dropped from the roster and lose trust.
Get free help: use Workforce Australia's free job-seeker support services, your state government's employment programs, and resume clinics at local public libraries. You can complete a standard-format resume without any paid agency or paid editing service.

Warnings — scam signals and 5 common mistakes

More than polish, the mistakes below decide both outcomes and your safety. The first two in particular can lead directly to financial and visa harm.

Requests for passport or visa copies at the application stage = scam signal: if you are asked for a passport copy, visa grant notice, TFN or bank account before any interview, suspect identity theft. A legitimate employer checks work rights through VEVO, with your consent, around the time hiring is finalised. Suspicious cases can be reported to Scamwatch (scamwatch.gov.au).
Inflated experience and fake referees: if discovered, it is grounds for withdrawing the offer or dismissal — and if that false experience or reference later flows into visa application documents such as skilled migration, it can trigger PIC 4020 (the false or misleading information criterion) and cascade into visa refusal and a multi-year bar on re-applying.
Never hide or misstate visa conditions: work rights and visa conditions are instantly verifiable through VEVO, so hiding them will come out. If your visa carries conditions, stating them truthfully is the only option; for visa decisions specific to your situation, consult an OMARA registered migration agent.
Flashy templates and formats copied from other sites: commercial templates heavy on graphics easily fail ATS parsing, and copied wording is recognised instantly by hiring staff. A simple black-and-white text format is the Australian standard.
No local contact channel: listing only a home-country phone number, or leaving voicemail unset, means missing interview calls. Check that you have an Australian number (+61), a professional email address, and a file name in the 'FirstnameLastname_Resume.pdf' format.

Useful official links

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I put a photo on my Australian resume?▾

The standard is to leave it out. Under Australia's federal anti-discrimination law framework, hiring discrimination on the basis of age, gender, race, marital status and similar attributes is prohibited (overseen by the Australian Human Rights Commission), so employers prefer not to receive information they must not use in hiring decisions in the first place. That is why the convention is to omit photos, date of birth, marital status and nationality entirely. Including a photo out of habit from your home country can actually read as a signal that you are unfamiliar with local conventions.

I have no Australian work experience at all — how do I fill out my resume?▾

Write up your overseas experience in English, add the city and country next to each employer's name, and describe it around transferable skills that apply to Australian roles. Then lead with local certificates such as RSA and White Card, your availability, and immediate-start signals like 'available for an immediate start' — this can offset much of the Australian experience gap. Volunteering and short courses also count as local experience. Never invent experience you don't have.

How many pages should my resume be?▾

It depends on the type of job. For office and professional roles, 2–3 pages showing achievements and scope of responsibility is standard, while for casual, hospitality and farm jobs the convention is 1 page that packs in your certificates and availability. Recruiters spend only a few seconds on a casual resume, so putting the essentials on the first screen matters more than writing at length.

How do I state 'full working rights'? Do I have to disclose my visa type?▾

Permanent residents and citizens can simply write 'Full working rights in Australia'. If your visa carries conditions, such as a Working Holiday visa, a single truthful line like 'Valid Australian working rights (Working Holiday visa)' is enough, and there is no need to attach copies of visa documents to your resume. The official process is for the employer to verify your work rights through VEVO (Visa Entitlement Verification Online), with your consent, once hiring becomes concrete.

I was asked to send a passport copy and visa grant notice as soon as I applied — is that normal?▾

It is very likely a scam signal. Asking for a passport copy, visa grant notice, TFN (tax file number) or bank account details before an interview has even taken place is a tactic commonly used for identity theft. A legitimate employer checks your work rights through VEVO, with your consent, around the time hiring is being finalised, and TFN and bank details are only needed at the actual onboarding paperwork stage. If in doubt, do not provide them — you can report it to Scamwatch (scamwatch.gov.au).

How many referees should I list, and who should they be?▾

Two is the convention, and your most recent supervisor or manager is best. Always get their consent in advance, and for referees overseas, noting the country and time zone (e.g. UTC+9) next to their name and title, along with a preference for email contact, reduces failed contact attempts. Writing 'Referees available on request' instead of listing contact details on the resume, then providing them at the final stage, is also widely accepted.

Do I always need a cover letter?▾

If the job ad asks for one, it is mandatory; for office and professional roles it is customary to attach one even when not requested. For casual jobs, 3–4 sentences in the body of your application email often serve instead. But a cover letter copied from a template you can find anywhere backfires — even a short one containing your own certificates, availability and experience is better.