AFP Graduate Program 2027: Streams, Pay, Assessment Stages and Clearance

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) runs its own graduate program, in its words "every year from February to February". It lasts 12 months, gives you 3 rotations across different business areas, and ends with "a guaranteed permanent position" in a specialist or support team in the area that recruited you. The AFP's ad for the 2028 program quotes Band 3 pay of A$77,264 plus 15.4% super (see the salary section for the effective date and the ad's wording). The AFP says it receives "over 2,000 applications" for the program each year. The 2027 program starts in February 2027; the next round is for the 2028 program: its register of interest is open now (it closes at 11:59pm AEDT on 28 February 2027), and the AFP anticipates that applications will open on Monday 1 March 2027. You need an NV1 (Secret) security clearance or the ability to get one.

Below: who the AFP recruits (the fields it lists instead of fixed streams), pay, who can apply, the 2028 dates, each assessment stage, the Employment Suitability Questionnaire, the clearance and the merit pool. Every figure comes from afp.gov.au or the AFP careers site, listed under Sources; our own calculations and advice are labelled. Independent practice – not affiliated with the APSC or any department.

AFP: Graduate Program for university graduates; Register of Interest - 2028 AFP Graduate Program.

If you want to become a police officer or protective service officer, this is not that pathway: the AFP lists other pathways, including new recruit police officers and protective service officers, Defence Force transition and First Nations pathways, and points people without a degree to them. Weighing the AFP against other agencies? Our map of APS graduate programs covers the Australian Government Graduate Program (AGGP) and agency programs; see also our ASIO Graduate Program guide.

The AFP pages we read list fields of study, not named graduate streams. The AFP says the expertise its specialist and support teams need "changes from year to year", welcomes applications from all eligible graduates, and lists eight fields of study that its 2028 ad says "will be very highly regarded":

The 2028 ad says graduates "are placed in a variety of business areas across the organisation" and names intelligence, forensics, ICT, finance and human resources among the professional areas the AFP relies on. It says it is looking for "strong analytical, problem solving and communications skills, with a commitment to integrity, teamwork and public service". Our advice: explain how your degree and experience relate to the AFP's work. The AFP pages we read do not say how graduates are matched to business areas or rotations.

The AFP uses its own bands, not APS levels, and sets pay in the AFP Enterprise Agreement 2024-2027. The 2028 register-of-interest ad gives the graduate band and salary as "Band 3 | $77,264 + 15.4% superannuation". The agreement's Band 3 rates are:

The agreement labels its three columns "Effective on the Commencement Date (9/12/2024)", "Effective 12 months after the Commencement Date" and "Effective 24 months after the Commencement Date"; the December 2025 and December 2026 dates in the headings are our arithmetic. The ad's A$77,264 is the Band 3.1 rate effective from 9 December 2026. The band field at the top of the same ad shows A$75,233 to A$87,836, which in the agreement are points 3.1 and 3.5 of the December 2025 column, which is the one in force on 7 November 2026. The ad's benefits list words it as a salary "starting in 2027", and the AFP pages we read do not confirm the starting salary for a February 2028 start, so treat A$77,264 as the figure quoted in the 2028 ad. Our arithmetic: 15.4% super on A$77,264 is about A$11,899 a year, so salary plus super comes to about A$89,163.

The 2028 ad lists six weeks (30 days) of paid annual leave plus a paid Christmas stand-down, 18 days of paid personal leave, 4 mandatory rest days a year, flexible and hybrid work, and access to the AFP Tertiary Study Assistance Scheme (ATSAS). The AFP pages we read do not say what band or pay point you move to after the program.

Our advice: check the character standards and exclusion periods further down this page before you apply. The AFP says previous drug use "won't immediately result in an unsuccessful application", but once you have submitted your application you must stop all illicit drug use, including prohibited drugs here and overseas, whether or not the drug has been decriminalised or legalised.

The register of interest is "not an application". It asks for no documents: the ad says not to upload a selection criteria response or a 2-page pitch, because "there is no written element required for this Register of Interest". Use an email address you will still read in March 2027, and check your junk folder for emails from the AFP's Emerging Talent Team. The AFP says its selection process "can take several months".

The AFP's graduate page describes the steps in this order. It calls the process long and says it is designed "to help find people with long-term potential".

The 2028 ad adds that applicants who do not pass the questionnaire stage "will not receive feedback", and that fingerprints are taken "if an offer of employment is made".

The AFP says only that the online tests assess "psychological traits, abilities and personality". The AFP pages we read give no sample questions, test names or time limits. Our advice: use timed reasoning practice for general preparation, and answer questions about yourself honestly. Our free sample above is APS-style reasoning practice in our own format, not the AFP's test, and these pages do not tell us the AFP tests' content or timing.

The live graduate page lists the assessment centre as a group activity, a behavioural interview and a verbal pitch. The archived copy of the same page dated 14 July 2026 listed "a written task" instead of the verbal pitch, so expect details to change between rounds and follow your invitation. The AFP pages we read give no format for the video interview. Related: our guide to the DFAT video interview stage.

The AFP's guide for applicants (written for all AFP jobs) suggests preparing for interview by reviewing the selection criteria, picking a few extra examples, doing a mock interview and reading the AFP's annual report and corporate plan. It recommends answering with the STAR method: Situation, Task, Actions, Results. For a written pitch, where a job asks for one, the guide says not to use dot points and not to go beyond 2 pages. The AFP pages we read do not say what the graduate verbal pitch must cover; our advice is to prepare a short, spoken version of why you suit the AFP and the area your degree fits, built on one or two strong examples.

If you are shortlisted, the AFP asks you to complete its Employment Suitability Questionnaire (ESQ). The AFP says it assesses your character against its core values: integrity, commitment, excellence, accountability, fairness, trust and respect. The questionnaire page says you must give as much detail as possible about:

The AFP's delegate assesses each questionnaire, and "The delegate's decision is final". If you do not meet the character standards, your application stops and the delegate may apply an exclusion period before you can apply again. An exclusion period starts from the date of the conviction or integrity issue (for traffic matters, the infringement or conviction), and the traffic periods are for convictions or infringements within the last 10 years. A few of the AFP's recommended periods:

The AFP says it assesses applications "holistically and on a case‐by‐case basis", and that declaring an association "does not automatically prevent an application from proceeding" while failing to disclose "may result in your application being unsuccessful". The full table on the AFP's questionnaire page covers many more offences and traffic matters.

Traffic history. You provide a traffic history from every place you have held a licence, including overseas. The graduate page says it "must cover your entire driving history" and be no more than 3 months old when you send it; the questionnaire page asks for the last 10 years of licence history, no older than 3 months from when the AFP first asked. Our advice: follow the exact wording of the request you receive, and if you are unsure, give the longer history. The AFP does not accept a demerit points record, a copy of your licence or a National Police Certificate instead.

Graduate roles need a Negative Vetting 1 (Secret) clearance, which you either hold already or must be able to obtain. Before you start, the AFP Personnel Security Vetting Team looks at your past, "going back at least 10 years". It assesses:

You also pass mandatory drug testing (the 2028 ad says the sample "could include; urine, saliva or hair") and provide fingerprints, and AFP staff have regular drug testing after they start. If you already hold a clearance from the Australian Government Security Vetting Agency (AGSVA), the AFP says you "might get through this check faster than others". The AFP pages we read do not say how long the clearance takes; they say only that the selection process "can take several months".

Successful candidates receive an offer through the AFP Jobs portal, and graduates start work in February. The AFP says some candidates are not offered a position, and "We may place suitable candidates who aren't offered a position in a 'merit pool' for 12 months. This means we may offer you another Band 3 position in the AFP if one is available." Our reading: a merit pool place is not an offer, and the AFP's wording describes "another Band 3 position", which may not be a graduate program place. In the meantime the AFP suggests applying for advertised roles in its current vacancies.