How to apply

Find out everything you need to know about becoming a Correctional Officer.

Who can work in Corrections?

Correctional Officers come from all walks of life. They’re drawn to the job because it’s rewarding, comes with a great lifestyle, and no two days are the same.

You don’t need prior experience or qualifications to work with us. What you do need is to be a passionate, hardworking person who wants to turn lives around.

We have positions available in Risdon, Hobart, and Launceston. Applicants from across the country are encouraged to apply.

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What's the role?

Award/classification: Correction Officers Agreement 2019 – Correctional Officer Training (Day Work)
Salary Range: $78,764 – $86,961* plus 11% superannuation
Employment type: Permanent, shift work
Region: State-wide
Location: Prison facilities located at Risdon, Hobart, and Launceston
Hours per fortnight: 76.0 on a fully rotating roster
Annual leave: Eight weeks per annum
* During training, salary is $57,317 per annum.

What are the requirements?

You don’t need a formal education or experience in Corrections to pursue this role. You will need to show us that you’re resilient, mature and flexible. You’ll also need strong reading, writing, and numeracy skills, as well as some proficiency with computers.

You should be able to demonstrate skills in the following areas:

  • teamwork;
  • communication;
  • integrity;
  • physical fitness;
  • resilience;
  • respect;
  • supportiveness;
  • accountability;
  • tolerance;
  • assertiveness;
  • adaptiveness;
  • decisiveness;
  • dependability;
  • courage;
  • motivation;
  • patience; and
  • objectivity.

You’ll need to be able to read people and situations, to think critically and problem solve, to listen and communicate.

At the Department of Justice, employees are expected to act with integrity, respect, and accountability. You can explore our values here.

Essentials:

  • physical fitness, medical suitability, and psychological characteristics appropriate to the duties of a Correctional Officer; and
  • pre-employment checks.

It is preferable that applicants hold a current unrestricted driver’s licence.

How will I be assessed?

Once you submit your application, we’ll begin assessing your suitability to perform the duties of a Correctional Officer. There are a number of stages to progress through, and only competitive applicants are progressed:

  • Submitted applications undergo an initial assessment by TPS Recruiting.
  • Online testing: You’ll be invited to complete some online testing that evaluates your literacy, numeracy, and job aptitude. This takes up to one hour to complete.
  • Associations Declaration: We acknowledges some associations are unavoidable, however as a Correctional Officer applicant, you are required to declare any known association/s past or present. An association is considered to be knowledge of any person/s who have committed a crime, been convicted of a crime, been in prison or is currently in prison, or is affiliated with any organisation associated with criminal activity.
  • Assessment Centre: Applicants invited to an Assessment Centre complete individual and group activities designed to test your suitability for the role. This takes around four hours and are generally run as a morning or afternoon session.
  • Individual Interview: Applicants invited to attend an Individual Interview should be aware of what the role involves, however we don’t expect you to have any specialist knowledge about corrections.
  • Workplace Health Assessment: To meet the essential requirements, applicants are required to complete a medical assessment undertaken by our provider. All medical assessments are paid for by the TPS and generally take 90 minutes to complete. Applicants will be invited by TPS Recruiting to book a medical assessment as required.
  • Finally, we perform criminal history and professional background checks. This includes applicant’s providing a current national conviction history check, and contacting referees.

What are the pre-employment checks?

Before you begin your role, we’ll do some checks on your background and history. This includes:

  1. Pre-employment checks:
    Arson and fire setting; Violent crimes and crimes against the person; Sex-related offences; Drug and alcohol related offences; Crimes involving dishonesty; Crimes involving deception; Making false declarations; Malicious damage and destruction to property; Serious traffic offences, Crimes against public order or relating to the Administration of Law and Justice; Crimes against Executive or the Legislative Power; Crimes involving Conspiracy.
  2. Checks for disciplinary actions in previous employment.
  3. An identification check.

What’s the training process?

When your application is successful, you’ll take part in 11 weeks* of full-time training. This will help you develop the skills and abilities to become an effective Correctional Officer.

Training includes classroom-based learning, practical activities, and job placements through various posts within the prison system. Recruits placed on posts are supernumerary and paired with an experienced Correctional Officer.

Our training allows you to acquire a Certificate III in Correctional Practice (Custodial), which is a nationally recognised qualification.

*Shorter training periods may be available to applicants with corrections experience. Strict criteria applies.

How do I apply?

Our application process is simple.

  1. Review the Statement of Duties to check that you meet all requirements.
    Speak to a Contact Officer if you have any questions.
  2. Submit your application including any additional documents that are specified.
  3. Make sure that you provide a mobile number and email (must be accessed regularly), as these are our primary forms of communication.

When you click apply now, you’ll be directed to attach a current resume and complete the required application form. You do not need to respond to the selection criteria.

Applications for Recruit School 1 of 2024 close 24 September 2023 at 11:55 PM AEST. Any applications submitted after this date will be considered for Recruit School 2 of 2024.

Contact us

If you have any questions about the role, please contact us on 1800 233 911 or Correctional.OfficerRecruiting@justice.tas.gov.au

Diversity

We encourage applications from Indigenous Australians, people with disability, people from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, mature age workers and lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex (LGBTIQ+) people.

The Department of Justice supports reasonable adjustment requests in any stage of the assessment process to remove barriers and facilitate full participation in all aspects of employment for applicants with disability. If you have individual requirements that need to be accommodated in order to participate in an interview or recruitment activity, please inform the contact person listed for this vacancy.

We are a diverse and inclusive workplace and understand the importance of flexible working arrangements. Talk to us about how this could work for you.