Purpose of AI guidelines
These guidelines explain how you can use artificial intelligence (AI) tools when applying for jobs at the ATO. They also outline when and how AI should not be used.
The guidelines aim to help you use AI in a way that supports your application, while maintaining your integrity as a candidate.
Who these guidelines are for
These guidelines are for anyone applying for a job at the ATO, including current and prospective staff. It covers all parts of the recruitment process – from writing your application, to doing interviews and completing assessments.
As the AI environment continues to evolve rapidly, we may review and adjust these guidelines as needed to ensure they remain relevant, fair and effective.
How we use AI in recruitment
To support transparency, we want to share how we use AI in recruitment.
We use AI to help us work more efficiently, but we don't use AI to make selection decisions about candidates. We may use AI in developing job advertisements and candidate information kits, but we don't use it to review or screen applications or resumes.
All decisions to shortlist or progress candidates in a recruitment process are made by a human selection panel.
What we expect from you
While we understand that AI can support and help you during a recruitment process, we also expect all our candidates to participate with integrity and honesty.
The ATO is trusted by the community. Our people act with integrity, make ethical decisions and embody our culture and the Australian Public Service (APS) valuesExternal Link. To keep that trust, we need to make sure our recruitment processes are fair and merit-based. That means we expect you to represent yourself genuinely and truthfully.
When applying for a role with us, you are expected to display the following behaviours.
By setting these expectations we aim to foster a fair, meritorious, and transparent recruitment environment that recognises the unique contributions of each candidate.
Be honest
Only include information that genuinely reflects your own skills, experiences and achievements. Use your own knowledge when answering questions in your written applications, skills assessments or interviews.
Be transparent
If you use AI tools, let us know. When asked, you need to tell us how you have used AI tools to support or enhance your responses during the recruitment process. This helps us to understand your approach and ensures fairness in the recruitment process.
Be yourself
We want to know who you are. Show us your own ideas, your skills and your understanding of the role. AI can help you prepare, but during interview or other skills assessments, you need to speak about your own experiences and demonstrate your skills without support from AI.
Be fair
Using AI in the wrong way could give some people an unfair advantage. This conflicts with the APS merit-based recruitment principlesExternal Link.
Risks of using AI in recruitment
Using AI to support you in recruitment can be helpful, but it also comes with risks. These include the following risks.
Misrepresentation:
- Content generated by AI might not match your real skills and experience –damaging your credibility and possibly resulting in your disqualification from the recruitment process.
Skills gaps:
- AI might hide areas where your skills don’t match the job you’re applying for, leading to these gaps being revealed during practical assessments or on-the-job performance.
Over-reliance on AI:
- If you depend too much on AI, you might struggle to explain your thoughts clearly in interviews or answer questions on the spot.
Loss of personal voice:
- Using AI can make your application sound too polished or generic – this may not convey your unique personality, passion, or suitability for the role.
Inaccurate information:
- AI can sometimes produce incorrect information generating misleading or untrue statements that sound convincing.
Data privacy concerns:
- Sharing personal information with AI tools can pose privacy risks. Some tools may not protect your personal data very well leading to potential data breaches or misuse of your personal information.
Reminder for ATO staff
ATO staff are reminded to ensure that any information you enter into publicly available AI tools is suitable for release into the public domain.
ATO staff must also adhere to all relevant ATO and APS policies throughout the recruitment process – including the Artificial Intelligence SEI.
How to use AI the right way
If you choose to use AI, here’s how to do it responsibly.
Use AI as a supplement, not a substitute.
- AI can support you in helping to organise your ideas or improve your writing. It should not replace your own unique contribution and voice.
- Always critically assess the AI’s suggestions. Don't just copy and paste what AI tells you to write.
Use AI to prepare, not perform.
- It’s okay to use AI to help you prepare for an interview or other assessment task – however, we expect that you won't use AI to assist you during the interview or assessment itself. For those activities, you must rely on your own skills.
Ensure personal, classified or sensitive information is not revealed.
- When using AI, assume that any prompts or supporting information you enter could become public.
Be accurate, open and genuine.
- Make sure everything you share is true and based on your own experience.
- Ensure that all the information you present throughout the recruitment process is truthful and directly reflects your personal skills, experiences, knowledge and ideas.
- Giving any false statements during the recruitment process may disqualify you from employment or lead to disciplinary action under the APS Code of ConductExternal Link if you’re already employed in the APS.
We want to get to know the real you.
- We value authenticity and want to understand who you are, your experiences, and what you will bring to the role and to the ATO.