ACMA Graduate Programs

We regulate communications and media in Australia – rapidly changing sectors that are critical to our economy and our society. We respond to these changes and help protect the interests of all Australians.

Find out more about the ACMA and what we do.

As a graduate at the ACMA, what you do each day will impact the lives of almost every Australian.

Our work is diverse and dynamic. You may find yourself working in a team to investigate complaints about radio and TV programs, or investigating telcos who don’t do the right thing.

You could work to limit harmful gambling activities online, protect Australians from scams and spam, or help shape our future working in our spectrum areas.

We also work closely with the eSafety Commissioner, which could see you helping to safeguard Australians at risk from online harm.

Our graduate program is designed to introduce recent university graduates to the ACMA.

You’ll be immersed in meaningful work during your placements and receive training and support to develop your skills, knowledge and experience.

We offer:

• an 11-month program
• placements in 2 work areas
• targeted training and development
• offices in 3 locations – Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne
• relocation assistance
• an inclusive and flexible working environment
• employee and professional networks
• executive-level mentoring
• a starting salary of $69,321 (APS4) with advancement to $78,785 (APS 5) upon completion
• generous leave conditions and 15.4% superannuation contributions.

The ACMA is seeking applications from all disciplines including but not limited to:

• Generalist
• Engineering
• Data
• Analytics
• Finance
• Human resources
• Communications
• Information and Communications Technology (ICT)

Don’t fancy moving to Canberra? No problems! We also have office locations in Sydney and Melbourne.

Applications for the 2022 Graduate Program are currently open.

The Australian Government offers graduates job opportunities across multiple disciplines.

We are a participating agency in the Generalist, Data, Digital, Human Resources, Economist and STEM Australian Government Graduate Program streams.

Applying to one of these streams means you only have to go through the application and selection process once to be considered for a range of Australian Government agencies.  

Wherever you start your public service career as a graduate, you’ll do meaningful work from day one, be asked to contribute, be recognised for your perspective and see the impact you can make in the Australian community we serve.  

Click here to apply and find out more.

2020 graduate – Research analysis

The 2020 graduate program at the ACMA was a great year of new experiences and meeting brilliant people who have been very generous with their knowledge and time.

I had 2 fantastic rotations in the Research, Analysis and Data team and the Content Investigations team. It’s been a pleasure to be involved in a broad range of work, including the ‘Australians and news’ research at the beginning of the year, an investigation into a radio broadcaster, fielding many complaints and researching cultural diversity on television.

One of the highlights of the program was participating in the APS Graduate Development Program where, as a cohort, we developed a project called 'Our Digital Future’. We are immensely proud of the success of our project – it was a substantial amount of work on top of our rotation workloads, but along the way we developed strong, close, professional and personal relationships with one another and with many others across the agency.

2020 graduate – International strategy and futures

The graduate program was a welcome and fulfilling experience. I built strong relationships with the amazing people I was fortunate enough to work with.

I have my supervisors to thank for the interesting and varied work I contributed to, including an investigation into spam breaches by Woolworths and a brief on the safety implications of immersive technology. It is these relationships, and the breadth of work I was involved in, that I value most as I move into my ongoing role at the Office of the eSafety Commissioner.

2020 graduate – Generalist 

I have now completed two rotations, in Licensing and Infrastructure Safeguards and Legal Services. Some of the highlights in my first rotation include working on an LPON investigation, as well as contributing to the EME, 5G and you content.

In the second rotation, I was able to sharpen my legal research, writing and review skills. I really enjoyed working on the legal aspect of matters across broadcasting, interactive gambling, spam, and telecommunications. I am grateful to have learned so much from my supervisors, as well as my buddies, colleagues and mentors, who made this year so rewarding.

2020 student engineer (similar work to a graduate placement)

Working at the ACMA as a student engineer has been an experience I have really enjoyed. I worked on many different projects, each with unique aspects to consider and evaluate. The work was very interesting, engaging and often extremely challenging!

On my placement I worked within the Spectrum Planning and Engineering branch, which is responsible for enabling various spectrum uses in Australia. I had to learn a lot of different skills very quickly, and got to work with many talented and interesting people.

I had previously done several other engineering work experience programs and was pleasantly surprised by the great depth of technical work at ACMA for students, and the how students are given so much more responsibility than other programs.

The ACMA engineering work experience is a great program for engineers interested in honing their skills in a wide range of topics, and those engineers looking for opportunities to work in the Australian Public Service.

Find out what previous graduates think about our graduate program.

We provide a range of activities and initiatives to support and encourage a safe and healthy workplace. Employees share an obligation to help create and maintain our positive, respectful workplace.

We offer an Employee Assistance Program — a short-term, confidential, professional counselling service available to all employees and their immediate families.

Employees are also able to access annual onsite flu vaccines and health checks, and reimbursement of costs associated with eyesight testing at 2 yearly intervals.

We offer attractive rewards and benefits to eligible employees, including:

• competitive rates of pay and 15.4% superannuation
• 4 weeks annual leave each year
• personal leave and paid maternity leave
• an additional 3 days paid leave between Christmas and New Year
• flexible working arrangements such as part-time work, flexible hours of work and an option to purchase up to an additional 4 weeks leave
• access to salary sacrificing
• childcare subsidy during school holidays
• public transport assistance scheme
• access to studies assistance

We encourage applications from graduates who identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, persons with disability, and people from culturally linguistic and diverse backgrounds.