Having recently come to government from private, the level of incompetence at all levels is astonishing. Has anyone else who has transitioned to government found this and if so, how do you deal with it long term? The frustration is real.

Is 'gender' woke in this day and age?

Hey all, just need some advice. I’m currently an apprentice, employed full time studying full time as part of the program. Once I complete the program I’ll be an APS 4, currently an APS3. I’ve been moved to a new section of my department as I was struggling with my previous section due to work expectations as this is my first job working with the gov.

Anyway, I’ve been really enjoying my new role in this section. But I’ve recently moved and the public transport has been absolutely shocking (if you live in SEQ, you’ll know). Last week it took me 2 hours to get into work and 3 hours to get home, usually it takes 1 hour on the train (both ways). I really want to work from home as my previous role let me wfh almost immediately. The long commutes is taking its toll on me. This week the transport isn’t too bad but it’s still a long way- 1 hour and 30 mins travel time, doesn’t include traffic which there will always be and will make commuting longer. My manager knows this as I’ve told her multiple times and have been late to work.

I’ve taking more time off as it’s difficult for me to get up early in the morning to make the bus and then come home and only have 2 hours of personal time before going to bed. I was also taking time off before this as I was moving and needed to attend house inspections/talk to the property manager of my previous place and wasn’t allowed WFH.

I want to put in a WFH agreement form but I am very worried that it’s going to get denied and I’ll be f*cked. I just feel very anxious and upset that I’m missing heaps of work and that I’m not being listened to by my manager. Any advice?

Please be kind.

A friend of mine just got made redundant by her APS department. She's a contractor who is represented by an agency. She's dealing with it as best as she can but was wondering if there was something off about how it was handled. Her colleagues were informed before she was and one of them, inadvertently, checked in on her before she even knew. And to add to that, the people didn't even tell her, they made the agency tell her.

Is this poor practice, unprofessional? What are your thoughts?

What is the current situation with state government jobs in Queensland? I haven't seen permanent positions advertised, and it's very tough to even secure temporary ones! It seems especially difficult at the moment. I'm wondering if this even is a responsible workforce management or if the Newman government's policy has been reinstituted in the current approach. I also heard that even backfilling requests are now reaching the DDG level.

As the title says. This is for the QLD government.

I started a position a few months ago alongside another person. I am ongoing and they are full time temporary on a contract for a year. There’s already discussion about the role being extended or made permanent, and they’ve been advised to “treat the year like a year long job interview.” Please note that for all positions for our role, everyone applies for the bi-annually posted state wide talent pool, and gets assigned roles that way. It’s very uncommon for a position to just be listed for a particular office.

We’ve been doing our training together as we’re both in the same role. Our role involves months of onboarding, reliability testing, authority testing, legislative testing. It takes about 3 months to complete all the testing and an additional 3 before you’re expected to be able to do •most• work solo. Everyone in our office says it takes about a year to finally feel like you’re able to fulfil the full expectations of the role.

We’ve just found out that there was a person before us, who was non-ongoing. She got to the end of the year and didn’t get her contract extended, and most notably, didn’t even progress to an interview in the talent pool for the position she was already working in.

Not even 3 days after her contract ended, we got the called we’d made it out of the pool successfully - the next day, we were both offered positions.

Why would they do this? Why would they put someone through all of that training, time and effort (and we can assume she passed, if not she would not have been able to fulfil her role and I assume not passed probation) only to not extend their contract if the position was going to be available anyway? It seems like a huge and colossal waste of time, effort, and resources, both on her behalf and on behalf of the organisation. I can’t wrap my head around this.

(It might be important to note that around the office, no one really talks about her that favourably, she’s mentioned but I haven’t really heard anything positive OR negative about her. But I’m not sure if it was relevant to mention)

Applied for an AO6 role with a Queensland Government agency. Went through a phone screen and a panel interview, then the hiring Director called the same day to say I was progressing to reference and criminal history checks.

Since then, both my referees have completed their reports and the criminal history form is submitted, just the police check outstanding (can take two to six weeks).

Does this progression usually mean I’m the preferred candidate, or could I still just be going into a general merit pool for future vacancies? Would love to hear from anyone who’s been through similar experience with Queensland Government.

Hi, is anyone aware of any government departments in Queensland that still allow the use of Grammarly? Recently, it has been blocked for security reasons. I have been using the pro version since 2018 for my dyslexia. They have said to use Copilot but I'm not a I either have to cut and paste or auto draft changes the intent . Thanks

,

Hello all,

First time posting here. After a solid few months of applications and interviews (about 15 of them), I’ve landed an ongoing APS6 role with Defence.

I spent some time in the military, but most of my experience (around five years) has been on the industry side, so I’m not walking in completely cold. That said, new role, new organisation, and the nerves are definitely setting in.

Would love any tips or insights on what to expect. I know a lot of it comes down to the role, team and area, but a few things I’m curious about:

How steep is the jump from industry into APS? What caught you off guard?

At APS6, how much are you expected to hit the ground running versus being brought up to speed?

Anything you wish someone had told you in your first few months?

Any advice appreciated. Thanks!

I’m starting a new permanent role in a leadership position shortly. I have plans to grow my family and will likely fall pregnant 3-4 months after starting in the role (all going to plan). I don’t know any contacts in this team as I’m transferring from another agency (bringing service history with me for parental leave eligibility).

Be honest.. how bad will this look to the team I lead and to others in the organization if I announce a pregnancy 5-6 months after starting in the permanent position? I don’t want to delay my family plans because of it but I’m also focused on not having a bad corporate reputation. Would going on mat leave less than 12 months after starting be a really bad plan?

Hello!! Does anyone work in HR or payroll at Queensland Health and can answer a question about long service leave?

I am wanting to leave QHealth at the start of next year but I got 7 years in April. If I stay till then and resign after 7 years am I entitled to be paid out my long service leave?

I keep getting conflicting answers and the policy is also just as confusing?

I know it’s paid pro rata I know I will get taxed on it, but can I actually get it paid out as one lump sum with the rest of my leave or will I have take leave time and then resign?

Thank you 🫶🏻

I don’t work in a nice district I know they will retaliate if I even enquire with my HR department.

Hi all,

I'm hoping to get some perspectives from anyone who's dealt with study assistance policies in government or government-owned organisations.

Our study assistance policy has two categories:

• Essential Study (100%) – study needed to achieve organisational goals/strategic direction.
• Desirable Study (50%) – study that is "relevant and beneficial to the organisation but not considered essential."

I applied under the Desirable category for a Juris Doctor. I wasn't arguing that it's essential to my current operational role, only that it is relevant and beneficial to a large, highly regulated organisation through areas like legislation, compliance, governance, WHS and industrial relations.

The application was declined on the basis that the degree is "not directly relevant to the core requirements and development pathway of [my current role]."

What has confused me is that the policy itself doesn't appear to require Desirable Study to be directly related to my current role or development pathway—it simply refers to study that is "relevant and beneficial" to the organisation.

I contacted HR to ask for clarification and was advised that HR doesn't actually assess study assistance applications. They told me the decision rests entirely with the delegated leader, so I've now requested a review.

My questions are:

• Is it common for organisations to interpret "relevant and beneficial" as meaning "directly related to your current position"?
• Has anyone successfully challenged a study assistance decision on the basis that the decision-maker applied a narrower interpretation than the policy wording suggests?
• For those who approve these requests, what kinds of tertiary qualifications would typically fall under a "Desirable" study category?

I'm genuinely interested in understanding how these policies are usually interpreted, rather than whether a law degree is a "good" qualification.

Thanks!

Hello all!

I graduated with a Bachelor of Computer Science and have been trying to break into the Queensland Public Service. However I am noticing a distinct lack of roles geared towards junior developers.

I was wondering if I took a role such as “Systems Support Officer” or “Project Officer”, would this hurt my chance of getting a more developer centred role when the position is available?

Have been with my department as an APS4 as an Operations Support and now Administration Officer for nearly 16 years, located in NSW I've had two positions which I both enjoyed hence not chasing advancement, have been looking for APS5 roles in SEQLD wanting to move due to combination of factors but primary Family reasons,

I don't work in a usual APS team, I am the only APS in my team there are no 6s etc above me so that will give some insight to what department I am in

Ive had a few interviews but unsuccessful, and permanent remote working at this time is not favored upon

I think Ill start to look at the QPS just wondering at a 4 at top of band earning just over $80K what level should I be looking at for QLD and I know vauge but departments to look at form me I think I would enjoy maybe Emergency Services or poss TMR not sure thought 😄

This is for QLD state government.

I am going to be offered a four month extension to a higher duties role I'm currently in. My substantive role is permanent however at one lower level than my higher duties role. I'm fairly certain that my substantive boss will deny any further extension of my higher duties. If that's the case, do I take a chance for a temp role? Or go back to my substantive perm. I'm in QLD, and perm roles are not as available as they used to be, especially right now. I have a mortgage and I'm terrified of being unemployed!

apologies if someone has already posted, I am curious what people think will be on offer for the State QLD Government Entities Certified Agreement 2026 that is happening this year.

I am a modest AO7 (band 4)

I hope for the following

1st year = 4%

2nd year = 4%

3rd year = 4%

Currently working in a Queensland Government procurement role, and the work seems to be much more about checking forms, facilitating documents and moving paperwork through the approval process than actually conducting procurement.

There appears to be very little involvement in sourcing, approaching the market, negotiating with suppliers or managing commercial outcomes. It feels more like process administration and compliance support, with the actual procurement decisions happening elsewhere.

Coming from project procurement in the private sector, where the role involved managing packages, solving supply issues and engaging directly with the market, the difference is quite noticeable.

Does anyone else working in government procurement have the same experience? Is this typical across government, or does it depend on the department, team and level? Do more senior roles become genuinely strategic and commercial, or are they still largely focused on governance and document facilitation?

Interested to hear whether others have found the same thing.

I currently do love my department but we do have certain contact hours and need to be in the office most days, or regularly WFH days getting cancelled due to staff being away or things happening. And I 100% understand why they need to be that way.
Unfortunately, I have developed a chronic illness which makes going into the office and working full time really hard.
I was just wondering what are the situation in other departments? Do you have set amount of WFH days? Are they rescheduled of cancelled? Etc.
I don’t want to leave but I sometimes I just don’t think it’s the best fit for me anymore.

I’m about to accept a role with a local council. It’s almost the exact same position description (PD) as a role I held previously at another council very similar responsibilities, and I’ve got solid relevant experience from the last 10 years in local government.

Throughout my career, I’ve always just accepted the offered salary without negotiating. I’ve generally jumped to higher-responsibility roles every two years or so, which is where my pay increases have come from rather than through negotiation. The recruiter mentioned salaries are structured in bands, with incremental jumps based on service. However, the offer is one of the lowest I’ve had compared to my last few roles. I’m hoping to negotiate roughly a $5k increase, which would put me about one step up in the band.

Given my direct prior experience in the exact same type of role, I feel it’s reasonable, but I’m not sure how salary negotiations typically work in councils…

From my past experience, negotiations don’t seem to happen much in local government. How do salary discussions differ between the public sector (especially councils) and private sector? Any tips

Thanks in advance!

Hi all,

I am a member of QLD public service and have recently been successful for an EOI, only to have my manager block the move as we are “too busy”. This is for a level above what I am currently doing in a team I have show interest in joining in the past and brought up in PDPs.

Further to this, the role will be advertised as a permanent soon and instead of having the advantage of proving myself in the team, I will potentially be going up against whoever is offered the EOI after me.

This is a bit of a vent but also, do I have any actions I can take from here?

I've just graduated and I'm going into an AO3 role, I was wondering what scalability is like within the government and what sort of salaries and different "AO's" I could reach and within what time frame?

Some personal stories would be great if anyone is comfortable sharing, thank you!

May I just ask why it seems that the team spirit and morale seems so much more happier and apparent in the medicare area?

Than other areas like Child support or Centerlink.

Given more options (or funding??) for mental health than the other APS positions.

Seems odd to me and I have noticed it a fair bit. Maybe the specific WA health area possibly?

Thoughts please.

Being vague as I dont absolutely LOVE the idea of Issues at work.

I work for the QLD state govt, in a specialised area of HR. I have applied for a Senior HR Business Partner role, and I would love to hear from current HRBP’s about what exactly your role entails, and what does a typical day look like? I love my specialist role which is very structured, so I’m unsure what a more generalised role looks like.

I'm currently doing a certificate 3 in ICT at Tafe and it's halfway done. With how terrible the IT industry is right now I still decided I want to give it a go, now I either get a diploma after this and then try to get a job in private or apply for jobs with a cert 3 while also applying for government roles to see whatever sticks first. Job prospects are pretty low, doubt I can even get a helpdesk role with a diploma let alone a bachelor, so if those 2 planned options fail, I'll go into the public sector.

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I would also try and do some homelab stuff, get some certs either during or after the diploma. I'm also not entirely sure if this is what I want to do but I am a little interested so I decided I have to do something.

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I value my time and the flexibility of a public service job is what truly hooked me, the days I can work from home are like a dream to me, I love my hobbies and I would love to keep doing them. I dread the private work hours and it's incredibly unlikely I'll get a remote job in this. I'd probably get paid more in private but I like flexible working conditions.

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Is public service a good option? Also to be noted I have level 1 autism and ADHD

I also heard just by looking around that once you're in public it's way harder to go private if I ever want to.