Australian CV Format

1. Put contact details first

Start with your name, professional email address, phone number and general location. A suburb, city or state is normally enough; a full residential address is rarely necessary at the application stage. LinkedIn or a professional portfolio is optional and should appear only when it is current and supports the role. Do not add a photograph, birth date, marital status, religion, passport number or unrelated identity information.

2. Write a role-specific summary

Use two to four lines to connect your experience with the position. Name your field, level of experience and the capabilities most relevant to the advertisement. Avoid a generic career objective that could sit on any application. A graduate can name placements, projects and technical training; an experienced applicant can foreground the type of work, environment and responsibility they have already handled.

3. Show recent experience in reverse order

List the most recent role first. Give the employer, job title and dates, followed by concise points that explain what you did and what changed because of your work. Prioritise evidence that matches the new role. Older or unrelated jobs can be shortened when they no longer help the decision. Use consistent date formats so the timeline can be scanned without interpretation.

4. Keep the file readable and ATS-friendly

Use A4 pages, ordinary section headings, readable type and a clear single-column order where possible. Decorative charts, text embedded in images and complex sidebars can make information harder to extract. Save the final file as PDF unless the employer asks for DOCX. Before submitting, copy text from the PDF into a plain editor; missing or scrambled text is a sign that the layout should be simplified.

5. Tailor keywords without copying claims

Use the employer’s terminology when it accurately describes your skills, licences or experience. This helps recruiters and applicant tracking systems connect the document to the role. Do not paste every phrase from the advertisement or claim tools you have not used. Each important keyword should be supported by a qualification, responsibility or example elsewhere in the CV.

Contact details	Required	Name, Australian phone number where available, professional email and location. LinkedIn is optional.
Professional summary	Recommended	Two to four lines connecting your experience to the advertised role.
Work experience	Required for experienced applicants	Reverse chronological roles with dates, responsibilities and evidence of outcomes.
Education	Required	Qualifications, institution and completion year. Explain unfamiliar overseas awards clearly.
Skills and licences	Role-dependent	Use concrete skills and current licences that the advertisement requests.
References	Application-dependent	Name referees only when requested; otherwise state that they are available.
Key achievements	Recommended	Use short evidence-led points inside each role rather than a detached list of claims.

Workforce Australia says a résumé should be about two pages, while acknowledging that it may be shorter or longer depending on experience. Use that as a starting point, not an inflexible limit. Early-career applicants may need less; specialist or academic roles may require more.

Use A4 pages, consistent headings, comfortable line spacing and margins that survive printing. Save a final application as PDF unless the employer requests DOCX. Put dates in a consistent form and use tabular numerals where columns must align. One column is safest for ATS parsing.

For international students

Translate unfamiliar qualification names into plain English without changing the credential. Include the institution, country and completion date. If an Australian equivalency has been formally assessed, name the assessing body; otherwise do not invent an equivalence.

Placements, volunteering, university projects and part-time work can provide evidence when local professional experience is limited. State work rights only when useful to the employer and keep the wording accurate to your current visa conditions. Do not put passport numbers, visa grant numbers or copies of identity documents in a CV.

ATS tips

1. 1.0

   Use the advertisement’s language accurately

   Repeat a skill or qualification only when you genuinely have it. Applicant tracking systems look for terms; hiring managers verify the evidence.

2. 2.0

   Keep structure machine-readable

   Prefer ordinary headings such as Work Experience, Education and Skills. Avoid text boxes, charts, icons carrying meaning and multi-column reading orders.

3. 3.0

   Check the exported file

   Copy text from the final PDF into a plain editor. If the order is broken or words disappear, simplify the layout before applying.

When the order is ready, build your Australian CV online.

A photograph, birth date, marital status and religious belief usually have no place in an Australian CV. They do not demonstrate capability and may expose personal information that the employer does not need. This is practical hiring guidance, not a claim that one universal statute dictates every CV field.

Do not include false proficiency ratings, decorative progress bars or a generic objective. Avoid full street addresses when a suburb or city is enough. Do not list every casual job if older work no longer supports the application. Keep information truthful, relevant and proportionate.

CV and résumé are often used interchangeably in Australia. Workforce Australia uses “resume”, while many job seekers and employers also search for and request a “CV”. In most ordinary private-sector applications, both labels refer to the same practical document: a focused record of relevant work, education and capability.

For a copyable companion layout, see the Australian CV template page. For the document that introduces your application, see the Australian cover letter format.