Job Description
The Australian Trade and Investment Commission—Austrade—promotes Australian trade, investment, tourism and education to the world. We deliver services to grow Australia's economic prosperity.
Across our global network in specific overseas locations, we also provide high quality and responsive passport and consular services to Australian citizens. Austrade manages the Australian Consulate-General in Frankfurt and is responsible for the provision of passport and consular services in five States in Germany.
The role:
The Passport and Consular Services Officer is an important member of a small client-focused team delivering responsive and high-quality services, advice and support to Australian citizens in Germany. The role requires a highly motivated team member with well-developed client service skills and experience.
The Passport and Consular Services Officer is required to work as part of a small team and with autonomy to provide passport, consular and notarial (legal) services. Operations of the passport and consular work is overseen by the Consul-General and Deputy Consul-General. The position also works closely with the Australian Embassy in Berlin and Australian-based colleagues to deliver the range of government services to the public.
This role is varied and dynamic and will include leading on the provision of high-quality passport services, including processing new passport applications, registering lost or stolen passports, issuing emergency passports, and detecting passport fraud. Consular support to Australian citizens and permanent residents will include assistance with welfare issues, whereabouts enquiries, arrest or detention matters and medical emergencies, in accordance with the Australian Consular Services Charter and relevant policies and protocols.
As a client service role within the Consulate-General, it is one of the most publicly scrutinised positions. In addition, this role often encounters difficult or challenging clients and stressful situations. From time to time out-of-hours duty will be required.
Successful applicants need to demonstrate high level of ethics, discretion, tact and diplomacy. Excellent communication skills and the ability to set priorities are necessary attributes to accomplish tasks in a demanding and dynamic operating environment.
In this role you will be responsible for the following:
- Processing applications for Australian passports, including conducting interviews and processing travel documents in accordance with Australian legislation and within processing guidelines and standards.
- Providing informative and accurate responses to Australian passport enquiries via phone, email and counter enquiries.
- Performing legalisation (notary) acts for Australian citizens for use in Australia or Germany.
- Providing consular support and services to Australian citizens who have been imprisoned, hospitalised, are financially destitute, and in cases of death of citizens abroad. Timely reporting of consular activities with a high attention to detail.
- Assisting with accurate reporting, filing, archiving and statistics on activities, including a yearly review.
- Assisting Australian Citizens in Australian State and Federal Elections where required.
- Maintaining after-hours consular and contact information and relationships required to respond to passport and consular cases.
- Supporting crisis or emergency situations impacting Australian citizens in Germany. Note: Crisis or emergency work may require duties to be performed outside of regular business hours from time to time. Travel at short notice may also be required to respond to major emergencies or crises within the consular district.
- Developing productive working relationships with relevant German entities. Engaging with the Embassy and a range of German and Australian Government officials to support the effective and efficient operations of the Consulate-General.
- Complying with Austrade policies and procedures, delegations, and relevant Australian legislation and regulations.
- The role may evolve during the course of your employment, and you may be required to perform other duties aligned to your skills and capabilities to deliver on Consulate-General priorities which may change over time. Appropriate training and support will be provided.
For more detailed information please view the Job Information Pack.
To be eligible for consideration and appointment you must have:
- Work Authorisation - to be eligible for employment with Austrade in the Germany, candidates must be legally authorised to live and work in the Germany at the time of appointment.
- Language - the successful candidate must be a highly motivated team member, fluent in written and spoken English and German.
- Security Clearance - the successful applicant must be willing to complete an Entry Level Screening Pack and be confirmed as a suitable person to access Government resources prior to commencement in the role.
Feedback from our staff tells us that Austrade is great place to work, benefits include:
- Embedded diversity and inclusion employee networks
- A high performance culture
- Global, flexible and diverse organisation
- Generous leave provisions
- Supportive working environment