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Australian Jobs for Australians

Australian Jobs for Australians

Old Jun 9th 2009, 9:08 am
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Thumbs down Australian Jobs for Australians

Having relocated to Canberra, from Sydney, a few months ago, I'm looking for work.

Last week I applied for a position with a government department, very specialised and hard to find skills required, and since I did the same kind of work consulting in Sydney and for many years with a similar government agency back home I thought I would be a perfect match.

I knew Australian citizenship was a requirement, but I thought I would be OK since I got my citizenship application approved a few weeks ago, and yes it's not final until the pledge is made, but still that's a formality I thought.

This morning I got a phone call from the department and I thought they wanted to schedule an interview. Instead I was more or less rudely informed that since I'm not yet an Australian citizen I'm not eligible to apply, and as the women said "I wouldn't even be let into the building"...!?

So here I am, in Canberra, effectively locked out from a majority of the jobs advertised, since even consulting roles require an Australian citizenship in order to get a security clearance, when working for many government agencies, where most of the work is in this town.

I have my citizenship ceremony scheduled in October so there's an end in sight to this situation I'm in, but I'm surprised how inflexible rules are applied in this country, but I guess it's a just a simple case of protectionism.
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Old Jun 9th 2009, 9:18 am
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Default Re: Australian Jobs for Australians

"Computer says no!"
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Old Jun 9th 2009, 9:21 am
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Not always a 100% no, as it can depend on circumstances.

There is no absolute requirement for Australian citizenship. However, there is a general expectation that a person who is to be engaged as an Australian Public Service (APS) employee will be an Australian citizen, although non-citizens can be engaged in certain circumstances.

Like a number of other countries, the Australian Government considers that it is appropriate for government employees to be Australian citizens as a demonstration of their commitment to, and long-term stake in, the future of Australia.

Section 22(8) of the PS Act requires an agency head not to engage, as an APS employee, a person who is not an Australian citizen unless the agency head considers it appropriate to do so.
 
Old Jun 9th 2009, 9:27 am
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Default Re: Australian Jobs for Australians

Originally Posted by ABCDiamond
Not always a 100% no, as it can depend on circumstances.
Thanks for that. Could it be worth while getting in touch with the government departments HR and request a more senior staff to review this, or is it most likely a waist of time?
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Old Jun 9th 2009, 9:34 am
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Default Re: Australian Jobs for Australians

Originally Posted by sason
Having relocated to Canberra, from Sydney, a few months ago, I'm looking for work.

Last week I applied for a position with a government department, very specialised and hard to find skills required, and since I did the same kind of work consulting in Sydney and for many years with a similar government agency back home I thought I would be a perfect match.

I knew Australian citizenship was a requirement, but I thought I would be OK since I got my citizenship application approved a few weeks ago, and yes it's not final until the pledge is made, but still that's a formality I thought.

This morning I got a phone call from the department and I thought they wanted to schedule an interview. Instead I was more or less rudely informed that since I'm not yet an Australian citizen I'm not eligible to apply, and as the women said "I wouldn't even be let into the building"...!?

So here I am, in Canberra, effectively locked out from a majority of the jobs advertised, since even consulting roles require an Australian citizenship in order to get a security clearance, when working for many government agencies, where most of the work is in this town.

I have my citizenship ceremony scheduled in October so there's an end in sight to this situation I'm in, but I'm surprised how inflexible rules are applied in this country, but I guess it's a just a simple case of protectionism.
Some departments will require Australian citizenship (eg Australian Federal Police) others not (eg Australian Taxation Office) as part of security assessment and clearance. Many have no security requirements other than would be expected anywhere else.

You are locked out of a minority, not a majority. Most jobs aren't advertised, as in the press, but are filled through recruitment agencies and contractors.
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Old Jun 9th 2009, 10:00 am
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Default Re: Australian Jobs for Australians

Originally Posted by sason
I guess it's a just a simple case of protectionism.
You are being ridiculous! As an employer, government agencies are a very small minority. There are thousands of employers all over the country and probably millions of jobs where Australian citizenship isn't a requirement.

But with government agencies it's a security issue. I would have thought that was obvious. Maybe you should have done a bit of research before moving to Canberra ...
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Old Jun 9th 2009, 10:03 am
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Default Re: Australian Jobs for Australians

Originally Posted by WillBlack
You are locked out of a minority, not a majority. Most jobs aren't advertised, as in the press, but are filled through recruitment agencies and contractors.
Yeah, that might be the fact, but I get the feeling that a majority of the jobs that has a descent match for me is for citizens only. Even in the recruitment agencies ads it says "only citizens need to apply" or "due to security clearance Australian citizenship is required" too often...
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Old Jun 9th 2009, 10:08 am
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There are jobs in the UK restricted to British citizens...
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Old Jun 9th 2009, 10:12 am
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Default Re: Australian Jobs for Australians

Originally Posted by sason
Yeah, that might be the fact, but I get the feeling that a majority of the jobs that has a descent match for me is for citizens only. Even in the recruitment agencies ads it says "only citizens need to apply" or "due to security clearance Australian citizenship is required" too often...
In any case, even if you start today, even if you were a citizen, realisticly expect it to take 3 months to get all your documents together, notiarized, ... etcetera and so forth, then add some time for processing. So while you are assembling all that, you will not be eligible for jobs requiring citizenship and / or security clearance. Over to you.
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Old Jun 9th 2009, 10:18 am
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Default Re: Australian Jobs for Australians

Originally Posted by ozhappy981
You are being ridiculous! As an employer, government agencies are a very small minority. There are thousands of employers all over the country and probably millions of jobs where Australian citizenship isn't a requirement.

But with government agencies it's a security issue. I would have thought that was obvious. Maybe you should have done a bit of research before moving to Canberra ...
Maybe, but it's not Defense or Intelligence I applied with. I still get the feeling that this citizenship requirement it put on too many roles/department, where it really shouldn't be necessary. If it's protectionism or discrimination is worth discussing, I believe.
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Old Jun 9th 2009, 10:31 am
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Default Re: Australian Jobs for Australians

Originally Posted by sason
Thanks for that. Could it be worth while getting in touch with the government departments HR and request a more senior staff to review this, or is it most likely a waist of time?
If as you say that you knew that being a citizen was a requirement for the position, even if you could get someone to conduct a review, which would be extremely unlikely, they would have to uphold the original decision as you do not meet the ALL selection criteria requirements. There is NO legislative requirement for them at ANY level of government, to give you an oppportunity to appeal in employment circumsstances. It would be different if you were an applicant that was ALREADY employed by the public service, which is covered in legislation.
Even as a citizen myself, an application that I made to the federal public service was not considered because I was unable to get written references. My referees were ok with giving verbal references but refused to give them something that was written down.
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Old Jun 9th 2009, 10:32 am
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Default Re: Australian Jobs for Australians

Originally Posted by sason
Maybe, but it's not Defense or Intelligence I applied with. I still get the feeling that this citizenship requirement it put on too many roles/department, where it really shouldn't be necessary. If it's protectionism or discrimination is worth discussing, I believe.
It most definitely is protectionism and discrimination. They are trying to tell you that as a British (?) citizen you are not good enough and they will not even consider you until you become an Australian citizen. Quite useless for you to whinge about it, especially as you will have the option of becoming a citizen in a few months.
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Old Jun 9th 2009, 10:35 am
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Default Re: Australian Jobs for Australians

Originally Posted by sason
Yeah, that might be the fact, but I get the feeling that a majority of the jobs that has a descent match for me is for citizens only. Even in the recruitment agencies ads it says "only citizens need to apply" or "due to security clearance Australian citizenship is required" too often...
The agencies only advertise the criteria that is requested by the clients.
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Old Jun 9th 2009, 10:40 am
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Default Re: Australian Jobs for Australians

Originally Posted by WillBlack
It most definitely is protectionism and discrimination. They are trying to tell you that as a British (?) citizen you are not good enough and they will not even consider you until you become an Australian citizen. Quite useless for you to whinge about it, especially as you will have the option of becoming a citizen in a few months.
Oddly enough that is exactly what Zambia said about the restricition of some jobs to only British citizens in the UK, so it is not specifically an Australian thing. The US government restricts most jobs in the US to US ciitizens, ie if you want a job, you have to renounce your current citizenship and take out US citiizenship.
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Old Jun 9th 2009, 11:40 am
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Default Re: Australian Jobs for Australians

Originally Posted by The Bloke
Oddly enough that is exactly what Zambia said about the restricition of some jobs to only British citizens in the UK, so it is not specifically an Australian thing. The US government restricts most jobs in the US to US ciitizens, ie if you want a job, you have to renounce your current citizenship and take out US citiizenship.
You don't have to give up existing citizenship to get US citizenship (common urban myth) although dual citizenship can make security clearance problematic.
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