​Supporting Indigenous Recruitment

Supporting a Government department’s Indigenous recruitment assessment process, providing specialist scribing services to help deliver a culturally safe and inclusive candidate experience.

Background

In May 2025, the department delivered a culturally responsive assessment process for Indigenous candidates pursuing APS4 operational opportunities. The initiative was designed to support equitable participation and identify suitable candidates through assessment methods that balanced cultural considerations with role-based requirements.

Over two assessment days, candidates participated in a range of activities including a Kup-Murri team exercise, one-on-one yarn interviews and an individual written reflection task. The assessment approach was designed to evaluate teamwork, communication, cultural awareness, problem-solving, decision-making and other capabilities relevant to the role.

Our Approach

DFP provided specialist scribing support across both assessment days, working alongside the department and partner organisations to document candidate performance and support a consistent assessment process.

Key activities included:

Providing dedicated scribing support across both assessment days.

Capturing candidate responses and assessment outcomes during one-on-one yarn interviews.

Supporting assessment activities designed around culturally appropriate engagement methods and Indigenous ways of sharing knowledge and experiences.

Contributing to a structured assessment process aligned to the selection criteria and role requirements.

Supporting a positive and culturally safe recruitment experience for all participants.

Outcomes

By providing specialist scribing support throughout the assessment activities, DFP helped deliver a positive candidate experience while supporting a fair, consistent and culturally responsive selection process. This resulted in strong candidate engagement and successful progression outcomes across the recruitment campaign:

• Two days of assessment activities were successfully delivered, incorporating group, interview and written assessment components.

• Candidates reported feeling culturally safe throughout the process and described the experience as holistic and culturally sensitive.

• 100% of attending candidates were assessed as suitable and progressed to the referee check stage.