The Associate Economist – Career Launch Program at NSW Treasury is a 12-month graduate pathway into ongoing economic policy work. Participants complete placements across two areas in the Economic Strategy and Productivity Group, receive regular training and work on advice that informs policy development and government decisions.
This guide explains how to apply for Associate Economist – Career Launch Program through a concise résumé, an academic transcript and several pre-screening questions. Treasury instructs applicants to leave out a separate cover letter, so the résumé and question responses must carry the evidence about your economic thinking, communication and readiness to learn.
View the official job ad and the application-process video before submitting. The program suits new and recent graduates who can apply economic frameworks to public policy and contribute confidently in a collaborative team.
Your application checklist
- Associate Economist – Career Launch Program Role Snapshot
- Application requirements for Associate Economist – Career Launch Program
- Evidence to include in your Associate Economist – Career Launch Program application
- How to prepare the résumé, transcript and pre-screening responses
- Help with your Associate Economist – Career Launch Program application
Associate Economist – Career Launch Program Role Snapshot
| Role title | Associate Economist – Career Launch Program |
|---|---|
| Organisation | NSW Treasury |
| Location | Sydney CBD, with flexible working options |
| Job reference | req53800 |
| Work type | Ongoing full-time, 35 hours per week |
| Salary | $78,000 to $84,799 plus super and leave loading |
| Closing date | 16 September 2026 at 9:59am |
| Official job ad | View the official job ad |
Application requirements for Associate Economist – Career Launch Program
This application is built around evidence from your studies, work and other relevant activities. The résumé should connect your experience to the focus capabilities, and the pre-screening answers should respond directly to the questions displayed after you select Apply Online.
- Concise, up-to-date résumé
- Most recent academic transcript
- Responses to several pre-screening questions in the online application
A separate cover letter should not be included. To be eligible, you must complete or be due to complete a relevant undergraduate or postgraduate degree by January 2027, be available to start on 1 February 2027, and be an Australian or New Zealand citizen or an Australian permanent resident.
Evidence to include in your Associate Economist – Career Launch Program application
Treasury is looking for graduates who can move between evidence, economic reasoning and clear public-policy advice. Examples can come from university projects, internships, paid work or community activities when they show the capability in action and make your own contribution clear.
| Requirement or evidence area | How to show it |
|---|---|
| Applying economics to public policy | Use coursework or practical work where you applied an economic framework to assess a real issue or policy choice. |
| Problem-solving and thinking on your feet | Describe an unfamiliar problem, the evidence you considered and how you reached a useful conclusion. |
| Effective communication | Show how you translated analysis into a clear explanation, presentation or recommendation for a specific audience. |
| Collaborative work | Explain your contribution to a group task, including how you handled different views and kept the work moving. |
| Learning, resilience and courage | Use a challenge where you sought feedback, adjusted your approach and improved the result. |
How to prepare the résumé, transcript and pre-screening responses
The application requires a résumé, academic transcript and online pre-screening answers. No page or word limits are stated in the advertisement. The table below shows how to distribute the evidence across the documents without creating a separate cover letter.
| Application component | What to include |
|---|---|
| Résumé profile | A short summary of your degree area, economic or policy interests and the strengths most relevant to the focus capabilities. |
| Education and projects | Relevant subjects, research, modelling, evaluation or policy projects, with methods and outputs described clearly. |
| Experience | Paid work, internships or other activities that show analysis, communication, collaboration and responsibility. |
| Academic transcript | Your most recent transcript, checked for completeness and legibility before upload. |
| Pre-screening responses | Answer each displayed question directly with your own evidence. Use a defined example whenever the question asks about behaviour or experience. |
What strong economics and policy evidence looks like
- Genuine interest in economic policy for NSW
- Reasoning that connects evidence to a conclusion
- Clear explanation of technical or complex information
- Constructive contribution to team work
- Readiness to learn across two program placements
Help with your Associate Economist – Career Launch Program application
The résumé needs more than a list of subjects. Use project descriptions to show the question you examined, the analysis you completed and what the work revealed, then check the official job ad for the final application steps.
Team 3Thirty can help you shape graduate evidence into a clear NSW Government application through its professional application support service.