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What can you tell your students about jobs in the West Australian government?

I wrote to the Premier, asking how teachers can help students discover job opportunities in the public sector and where they can find support and information.

Here is an abridged version of the response from the Western Australian Public Sector Commission, which the Premier heads. 

Public Sector School-based Traineeships

  • The public sector School-based Traineeship program is an opportunity for students from Year 11 onwards to gain real experience while working part time in a government agency, learning valuable workplace skills and being paid while finishing Years 11 and 12.

1 July Applications for School-based Traineeships 2025-26 open

Year 10s can apply for a traineeship for Year 11 from 1 July.

Over 18 months trainees gain real experience working part time in a government agency, learning valuable workplace skills and being paid while finishing Years 11 and 12.

The program runs two days a week for 18 months as you do your WA Certificate of Education in years 11 and 12.

These are the agencies taking part:

Traineeships in metro Perth 

Traineeships in regional areas 

School Based Traineeship Program 2025-26 – Article.docx

Find details HERE.

The Public Sector Commission has created a communications pack with articles, emails and graphics to help schools promote the program to their students and parents/carers which you can also share. 

You can register to attend an online information session to get more details and ask questions: 

Please email us at youth@psc.wa.gov.au or call 6552 8764 if you have any questions

Look for Public Sector Reps at Career Events

  • A career in the public sector is promoted at a range of careers events and exhibitions targeted towards students.  The Public Sector Commission attends some of these events, as do staff from agencies who present on their specific roles and their department’s employment opportunities. 

Check the Careers Expo list of Exhibitors which include, West Australian Police, Public Transport Authority, and Department of Planning, Land and Heritage. There are lots of them. Representatives from each department will be able to tell you about the range of jobs that are available. 

A Place of Opportunity

  • Our ‘a place of opportunity’ program coordinates and promotes sector-wide graduate and vacation programs available for university students and graduates at these events.

This is for university students but it’s worth knowing about. 

Public Sector Jobs

  • All job opportunities in the WA government are listed on Jobs WA at www.jobs.wa.gov.au.

Spend 20 minutes playing around on this site. If you are interested in the environment, for example, identify which departments would have jobs related to that. You can look for specific jobs or enter key words and search on those. The job descriptions say what qualifications and experience you need. 

The public sector employs about a third of West Australia’s workforce and the range of jobs and opportunities is so great that they deserve consideration. 

Solid Futures Aboriginal Traineeship

  • The Solid Futures Aboriginal Traineeship program gives young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people formal training, paid employment and support to complete a Certificate III in Government. 

Details of the 2025 program will be published HERE. 

Additional Support

It can be tricky trying to find out about work in the public sector or to find work experience opportunities, which is why I wrote to the Premier.

If you need help, contact your local Jobs and Skills Centre.

My Experience

I used to work in human resource management in government and we used to get calls from teachers and parents asking us to provide work experience to students. My departments were always happy to help. 

If you have a student who wants to work in say fisheries, give DPIRD human resource management a ring and talk to them about what you need. It’s worth a try. 

Disability Access

All WA government departments have a Disability Access and Inclusion Plan. They include strategies for supporting employees with a disability. If you are looking for work experience, a traineeship or job for someone with a disability, it is worth ringing a government department and asking if they can help. 

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