Data graduates

Applications for the 2023 Data Graduate recruitment are now closed. Please apply to the following Data Graduate Register of Interest to keep updated on future opportunities!

Do you love data? Are you looking to embark on a career in the Australian Public Service?

We welcome all degree types and we look for people who share our dedication to bringing data to life and telling the stories of Australia and its people.

The ABS is partnering with a range of Australian Public Service (APS) and Commonwealth agencies to offer more data graduate roles in 2023. We are leading the recruitment of more than 270 data graduates for placements across participating agencies as part of the Australian Government Graduate Program Data Stream.

As a data graduate in the APS you will connect with other graduates and have opportunities for mobility to other agencies during your public service career.

By completing one application, you will open the door to being considered by over 30 APS and Commonwealth agencies. While there is no guarantee of placement in a specific agency, you will be asked for your agency and location preferences, and these will be taken into consideration. 

• Australian Bureau of Statistics
• Australian Communications and Media Authority
• Australian Competition and Consumer Commission

• Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission:

• Australian Digital Health Agency
• Australian Financial Security Authority
• Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
• Australian National Audit Office
• Australian Public Service Commission
• Australian Prudential Regulation Authority
• Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman
• Australian Skills Quality Authority
• Australian Taxation Office
• Australian Transaction Report and Analysis Centre 
• Civil Aviation Safety Authority
• Comcare
• Commonwealth Grants Commission
• Commonwealth Ombudsman
• Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment
• Department of Defence
• Department of Education, Skills & Employment
• Department of Finance
• Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade
• Department of Health
• Department of Home Affairs
• Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications
• Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources
• Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
• Department of Social Services 
• Department of Veterans' Affairs
• Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority
• National Archives of Australia
• National Health Funding Body
• National Health and Medical Research Council
• National Indigenous Australians Agency
• National Museum of Australia
• Safe Work Australia
• Services Australia
• The Treasury

Roles will be available in all capital cities, Geelong, Newcastle and possibly Townsville, though a number of agencies have demand to fill roles in Canberra. Capital city roles may be located outside of the CBD. 

Data roles are varied, including data analysis, data acquisition, data engineering or more specialised roles in data science, methodology or geospatial analysis. Data graduates work in all aspects of government, including policy development, research, program management and service delivery.

Some of the more common roles are Data Analyst, Data Scientist and Statistical Methodology Specialist. 

Data Analysts analyse data to discover relationships between data items and draw findings, using their judgement and real-world insights. They tell the stories behind data in an engaging and meaningful way including through data visualisation.

They may be responsible for analysing and interpreting survey, census and administrative data including linked data, assist in designing and testing data collection instruments such as questionnaires and forms, and undertaking quality assurance of data. 

Other types of roles in this stream may include Data Acquisition Officers who are responsible for the ethical collection of data, and Data Consultants who are responsible for engaging with clients and delivering their data needs safely and effectively.

While we welcome all degree types, desirable fields of study for Data Analysts include analytics, actuarial studies, demography, data science or mining, demography, economics, econometrics, engineering, finance, mathematics or mathematical modelling, machine learning, psychology, risk and intelligence analysis, social sciences and statistics.

Data Scientists are responsible for wrangling, experimenting with and analysing data and leading the use of new data sources and cutting-edge methods to meet the changing information needs of customers across governments, business and the community. Data Scientists play an important role in building their organisation’s capacity to take advantage of new opportunities, such as advances in technology, big data, and use of administrative information for statistical purposes.

Data Scientists may have skills in data mining, artificial intelligence/ machine learning, graph theory, natural language processing, time series analysis, data visualisation, statistical modelling and analysis, high performance computing and other techniques such as regression, prediction analysis and clustering.  A variety of statistical computing languages such as R, Python, SAS or Stata are used by data scientists to manipulate and draw insights from data, along with other implementation languages (such as C/C++, and Java). 

Recent work undertaken by APS data scientists includes:  the application of natural language processing to automatically extract information from text;  using Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) for approximating the joint density of a set of related data items; development of graph theoretic and machine learning techniques for identifying, classifying and associating complex relationship structures in data; and looking at automated methods for editing large administrative datasets.

Other types of roles in this stream may include Data Engineers who are responsible for reliable infrastructure for data, Data Managers who are responsible for effectively managing data as an enterprise asset, and Geospatial Analysts who use a range of data and tools including Geographic Information Systems to provide location-based insights and visualisations.

While we welcome all degree types, desirable fields of study for those seeking to become a data scientist include: data science, statistics, computer science, mathematics, econometrics, actuarial studies, physics, engineering or other disciplines with a strong quantitative component. Geospatial Analysts may have completed study in Geospatial Information Systems (GIS), Environmental Science or Geography-related disciplines.

Statistical methodologists provide specialist statistical advice on the methods used to produce high quality official statistics and generate timely new insights. Methodologists identify, research, implement and maintain a range of innovative statistical solutions to embrace new methods and data sources. They support the high quality of their organisation’s statistical processes, ensuring that data collection and analysis methods are based on sound, defensible statistical principles, as well as being cost-effective.

Statistical methodologists may conduct research in data access, integration, confidentialisation, time series analysis and other analytical methods for traditional and emerging data sources. They play a substantial role in developing: survey and sample designs; statistical editing, imputation and estimation processes; and survey quality assessment methods, to obtain robust statistics which minimise the load on data providers. A variety of statistical computing languages (for example R, Python, SAS, Stata etc) are used by methodologists to manipulate and draw insights from data. 

Recent advice provided by APS methodologists has focussed on time series analysis to understand the impact of COVID -19 on economic time series; constructing optimisation algorithms to improve the quality and efficiency of national accounts outputs;  developing methods to create new timely economic indicators using new data sources; and developing confidentiality solutions to assist with the safe dissemination of statistical products.

While we welcome all degree types, desirable fields of study for those seeking to become a statistical methodologist include: statistics, mathematics, econometrics, actuarial studies, physics, data science or other fields with a strong quantitative component.

To find out more email recruitment@abs.gov.au or phone 1800 249 583.