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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Useful official links
- Workforce Australia(opens in a new window)
The Australian Government's free job-search platform — job listings, resume and cover letter tools, and connections to free employment services, all in one place.
- Your Career (호주 정부 직업정보)(opens in a new window)
The government careers site setting out the skills, qualifications and outlook for each occupation — useful for finding the standard job terminology to use as ATS keywords.
- Australian Human Rights Commission(opens in a new window)
The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), which explains the prohibition on age, gender, race and marital-status discrimination in recruitment and the avenues for redress.