ASIS Officer FAQ

Providing you successfully pass the required training, some Operations and Technical ASIS Officers can apply for work overseas. The majority of ASIS officers have the opportunity to travel, domestically or internationally, during their careers with the Service.

We can offer long-term career opportunities for the right person. Employment and promotion decisions in ASIS are based on merit, with regular promotion and internal transfer opportunities available.

At this stage, you should not discuss your application with anyone, even family and friends. This may seem overly cautious, but there are important reasons why, which will become clear when/if you meet with an ASIS officer. If you have any questions or concerns please call the relevant enquiries number for further advice.

It is better not to raise the topic of your application with anyone and if questions are raised, to say as little as possible. We understand this can be difficult, particularly with friends and family. When/if you meet with an ASIS officer, we can provide further advice on how to handle this matter. In the meantime, if you need guidance on how to ensure the confidentiality of your application, please call the relevant enquiries number.

We are looking for highly motivated and dedicated professionals from a broad range of backgrounds and/or academic disciplines. To work for ASIS you will need certain attributes, which are set out in the selection documentation for each different position advertised.

Once you’ve submitted your completed online application form, you will receive an on-screen confirmation that your application has been successfully received by ASIS. Beyond this, you will only be contacted again if you progress through to the next stage of the application process.

Due to the number of applications received and important national security considerations, we can't provide this kind of feedback.

The selection process incorporates extensive security and background checking which can take some time, depending on your personal history. As a rough guide, ASIS Officer applications generally take between three and six months.

The majority of ASIS Officers are based in our Canberra office.

There are no special arrangements with the Australian Public Service (APS) or Australian Defence Force (ADF) for members to transfer directly to ASIS. However, some conditions of service may be recognised (e.g., long-service leave). While APS or ADF members are eligible to apply for any advertised vacancy, they will have to compete on merit with other applicants for each position.

In some cases a current security clearance will speed up the application process. Everyone applying for a job in ASIS is required to go through extensive security and background checking. However, the time required to complete this checking may be reduced if you have already held a position requiring a security clearance. Whether this saves us any time, however, depends on the type of clearance previously held, the agency for which the clearance was issued, and how recently the clearance was issued or re-evaluated.

Unfortunately, no. Because of the high level national security clearance which every ASIS position requires, and the time it can take to obtain such a clearance, we are unable to offer short-term work experience opportunities.