As the country experiences a war for talent it is more important than ever that we attract the best and brightest graduates to the APS. One way we are achieving this is by ensuring the entry point and application process is as easy as possible.
The Australian Government Graduate Program (AGGP) Streams aim to achieve this by providing a single streamlined application process covering multiple graduate roles and agencies within the APS. This one APS approach to recruitment has been successfully implemented with streams in STEM, Economics, Digital, Human Resources, Data, and Intelligence. In 2023 this expanded to include a Legal Stream lead by the Attorney-General’s Department (AGD).
Following in the success of the Human Resources Stream, the AGGP Legal Stream was launched earlier this year. It offers more than 140 graduate opportunities in over 20 participating agencies and is already on track to significantly exceed agency focused graduate program applications from 2022/23.
We had the opportunity to speak with Anthea Wall, Assistant Director of Employment Programs at the AGD to find out about the new Legal Stream. We discussed how the streamlined application process supports the communication approach and long-term APS positioning, as well as the benefits for legal graduate applicants and the APS.
Targeted marketing and communications at legal faculties and law colleges in universities enabled AGD to reach a high-quality talent pool with a genuine interest in the APS as a career more effectively. Anthea explains “A legal career in the APS offers a variety of opportunities to make a difference in our community you can’t do anywhere else. Having a mindset where you are open to trying different things you may have never thought of provides the best chance to find your passion and succeed.”
Legal graduates will have the opportunity to work across areas of law including legal policy, policy advice, statutory interpretation, freedom of information, corporate and commercial law, or dispute resolution and litigation.
In addition to positioning the APS with an advantage over other employers to attract high-quality applicants, this streamlined approach also reduces duplication of effort in selecting candidates, produces efficiencies for the lead agency and the various participating agencies, and ensures a cost benefit for the government.
During the initial planning stage, the AGD expected only a handful of agencies to join the stream but were delighted to receive enthusiastic interest from over 20 partner agencies. As demand from applicants grows, there is potential for more agencies to become involved, Anthea states “We look forward to growing this even further in future years.”
To keep up to date with the new Legal stream, and other AGGP streams head to APS Jobs.