What’s happening to recruitment in Australian Councils this year?

CouncilJobs has tracked recruitment activity for the whole local government sector across Australia and New Zealand since 2016 when it began to list on its website, every job vacancy from every council (LGA). With this unique perspective, CouncilJobs has determined that councils lose staff and recruit at consistent rates over time, subject to their size and type. Thus, council recruitment can be seen in four different groups or segments – Metro City, Regional City, Rural town and Remote/District – each with consistent but different annual rates of recruitment. Over the past six years, since 2020 post-Covid, on average;

• Metro Cities (117 LGA’s) represent 45% of all recruitment and each LGA advertises 160 vacancies per year
• Regional Cities (75) represent 28% of all recruitment and each LGA advertises 158 vacanciesper year
• Rural Towns (194) represent 22% of all recruitment and each LGA advertises 48 vacancies per year
• Remote/Districts (157) represent 4% of all recruitment and each LGA advertises 11 vacancies per year

In the Financial year ended June 2026, slight changes were seen in these patterns with Metro councils rising to 49% of all recruitment and an average of 182 vacancies for the year while Rural towns reduced to 19% of all recruitment and an average of 42 vacancies for the year – Regional Cities and Remote/Districts remained mostly constant.

As an employment Sector, the Australian Local government workforce has been consistently around 170,000 Fulltime Equivalent staff or 0.6% of the population.

Here’s a tip
People who work in council describe workplaces that are simpler and have less career risk than the private sector along with offering better work/life balance with greater fulfillment. So, think about
how a career in council suits your life aspirations and not just look for the highest pay.