Artificial intelligence is changing how organisations work, and recruitment is no exception.
From developing position descriptions and conducting market research to improving candidate communication, AI offers opportunities to make recruitment processes more efficient and informed.
But for public sector organisations and those appointing senior executives, there is an important distinction between using AI to support recruitment and allowing technology to influence decisions that require careful human judgement.
The question is no longer simply whether AI has a place in recruitment. It's where the technology can genuinely add value, how organisations can manage the risks, and which parts of the process should remain firmly in human hands.
As Local Government and public sector organisations begin planning their workforce requirements for 2027, these are becoming increasingly relevant considerations.
The use of artificial intelligence across government has moved beyond general experimentation towards clearer expectations around accountability, transparency and responsible implementation.
In April 2026, the Australian Public Service Commission published dedicated guidance for the use of AI in recruitment, with agencies expected to implement its principles from 1 June 2026.
The guidance focuses on maintaining fair, transparent and merit-based recruitment practices while recognising opportunities for AI to support recruitment activities.
At the same time, the Australian Government's Policy for the Responsible Use of AI in Government, updated in October 2026, places greater emphasis on governance, staff capability, risk assessment and accountability.
These developments reflect an important principle: technology may change how recruitment is conducted, but it doesn't remove an organisation's responsibility for the decisions it makes.
For Victorian public sector organisations, existing guidance also emphasises the importance of protecting sensitive information, checking AI-generated content and maintaining human accountability.
While the specific regulatory requirements differ between Commonwealth agencies, Victorian public sector bodies and Local Government, the underlying considerations are relevant across all three.
There are several stages of recruitment where AI can provide practical support without replacing the people responsible for assessing and appointing candidates.
A successful recruitment process begins with a clear understanding of what the organisation needs.
For executive appointments, that means looking beyond the responsibilities of a position to consider the organisational challenges, leadership expectations and outcomes the successful candidate will need to deliver.
AI can assist with the early stages of this process by:
Developing an initial position description from approved, non-sensitive information.
Identifying duplication or unnecessary complexity in selection criteria.
Suggesting clearer and more accessible language.
Helping distinguish essential capabilities from experience that could be developed.
Organising stakeholder input into a structured recruitment brief, where the information and tool are approved for that purpose.
For example, a council recruiting a Director of Infrastructure may initially focus heavily on technical qualifications and previous Local Government experience.
A review of the recruitment brief might identify that broader capabilities, including financial management, stakeholder engagement, change leadership and major project delivery, are equally important.
AI can help structure that discussion and suggest alternative ways to describe the capabilities required.
However, deciding which criteria matter most should remain a considered decision made by the organisation and its recruitment advisers.
One of the challenges in executive recruitment is that suitable candidates aren't always actively looking for a new position.
This is particularly relevant for senior roles across Local Government, statutory authorities and other public sector organisations, where experience in governance, complex stakeholder environments and organisational leadership can be important.
AI can support the research process by helping recruitment teams organise publicly available market information, identify relevant occupational backgrounds and explore transferable capabilities across industries.
For example, when researching potential candidates for a senior transformation appointment, a recruitment team might look beyond traditional government backgrounds to leaders with relevant experience in utilities, infrastructure or regulated service delivery.
AI can assist in identifying areas worth investigating and summarising public information about these sectors.
But identifying a possible talent market is not the same as determining whether a particular individual is suitable for appointment.
That still requires professional research, direct engagement, an understanding of the candidate's experience and an assessment of their leadership capabilities.
Importantly, confidential candidate records or personal information should not be entered into external AI tools unless their use has been specifically authorised and appropriate safeguards are in place.
This is where a proactive executive search approach remains important. Technology can support research, but building relationships with senior executives and understanding their motivations requires meaningful human engagement.
Recruitment processes can involve significant administrative work, particularly when multiple stakeholders, governance requirements and assessment stages are involved.
AI-enabled tools can assist with activities such as drafting candidate communications, preparing interview information packs and developing frequently asked questions.
Used appropriately, this can help organisations maintain more consistent communication and reduce time spent preparing repetitive materials.
For public sector recruitment, where processes may involve panels, formal approvals and multiple interview stages, this administrative support can be valuable.
It may also allow recruitment professionals to spend more time speaking with candidates, managing stakeholder expectations and providing meaningful feedback.
However, any automated communication must remain accurate, appropriately authorised and consistent with the organisation's privacy and records management requirements.
A faster process is only beneficial if it also delivers a positive, transparent candidate experience.
Interview quality can have a significant influence on recruitment outcomes.
For executive and senior leadership appointments, the assessment process needs to establish whether a candidate can demonstrate the capabilities required to lead the organisation, not simply whether they can present well in an interview.
AI can help recruitment teams prepare for this process by suggesting competency-based interview questions, developing draft assessment frameworks and identifying areas where selection criteria could be explored in greater detail.
Consider a council appointing a new Chief Executive Officer.
An AI-assisted planning exercise could help the hiring team develop questions around financial sustainability, community expectations, governance, organisational culture and leading through change.
The panel would then review and refine those questions to ensure they reflect the council's specific needs.
The critical distinction is that AI can assist with designing an assessment process, but should not be relied upon to assess candidates or make appointment decisions.
In the Victorian public sector, guidance specifically cautions against using generative AI to make decisions or undertake assessments that may affect individuals.
For senior appointments, panel members need to understand the evidence, test candidate claims, exercise independent judgement and be able to explain the reasoning behind their recommendations.
There is a significant difference between identifying relevant experience and assessing whether someone is the right leader for an organisation.
Two candidates may have similar qualifications, comparable employment histories and experience operating at the same executive level.
Yet their approaches to leadership, stakeholder engagement, organisational change and decision-making may be very different.
For a council or public sector organisation, these differences can have considerable implications.
An executive may need to balance financial constraints with community expectations, navigate complex governance arrangements or lead teams through significant transformation.
These capabilities cannot be adequately understood through a resume alone.
They require considered conversations, structured interviews, reference checking and an understanding of the environment in which the individual will operate.
AI may help organisations prepare for those conversations, but it cannot replace the professional judgement and contextual understanding needed to evaluate leadership capability.
This is particularly important where an appointment must be transparent, merit-based and capable of withstanding scrutiny.
While the opportunities are clear, AI also introduces challenges that need to be managed carefully.
Recruitment involves personal information, employment histories, references and, in some circumstances, highly sensitive organisational information.
Using publicly available AI platforms without appropriate controls could expose information to systems that are not authorised for that purpose.
In June 2026, the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner published updated guidance addressing privacy and information security considerations for both publicly available and enterprise generative AI tools.
Organisations should establish which tools are approved, what information can be entered and how data is stored, accessed and retained.
AI-generated material can reflect biases or limitations in the information used to develop the technology.
A poorly designed AI-assisted recruitment process could reinforce existing assumptions about the type of career history, qualifications or experience associated with a successful candidate.
For executive recruitment, this may create a risk of overlooking individuals with transferable leadership experience or non-traditional career pathways.
Using structured, job-related criteria and independent human judgement remains important in reducing these risks.
Public sector recruitment decisions may need to be explained to candidates, governing bodies, internal stakeholders or external reviewers.
If an organisation cannot clearly explain how information was considered or why a decision was made, that can undermine confidence in the recruitment process.
AI should therefore be introduced in a way that strengthens, rather than weakens, transparency.
Organisations need to understand where the technology is being used, how outputs are reviewed and who remains accountable for the final decisions.
The influence of AI isn't limited to employers.
Candidates are increasingly able to use generative AI tools to help structure resumes, prepare written applications and practise interview questions.
The Australian Public Service Commission's 2026 candidate guidance permits the use of AI in these activities, unless an agency has specifically restricted its use.
However, candidates remain responsible for the accuracy, authenticity and integrity of the information they provide.
This creates an important consideration for recruitment panels.
A polished written application is not necessarily evidence of strong capability.
Similarly, an applicant who has used AI to improve the structure of their resume should not automatically be considered less capable than someone who has prepared an application independently.
The focus should remain on whether candidates can demonstrate the experience, judgement and skills required for the position.
For executive recruitment, this reinforces the value of structured conversations, evidence-based questioning and appropriate reference checking.
As AI-assisted applications become more common, the ability to assess demonstrated capability rather than presentation alone will become increasingly important.
AI is one part of a broader change in how organisations approach workforce capability.
The 2026 Occupation Shortage List released by Jobs and Skills Australia found that 27% of assessed occupations remained in national shortage, down from a peak of 36% in 2023.
Despite that improvement, 127 occupations had experienced shortages continuously between 2021 and 2026.
Among professional occupations, 37% were still assessed as being in shortage.
These national figures aren't specific to the public sector, but they demonstrate why a broader easing in labour market conditions doesn't necessarily make specialist appointments straightforward.
For councils and public sector organisations, recruitment planning should therefore consider both the capabilities needed today and the skills that will become important over the coming years.
AI can support this work by helping organisations examine workforce trends, structure succession planning discussions and consider how different roles may evolve.
For instance, organisations introducing new digital platforms or AI-enabled services may need leaders who understand technology governance, risk management, change management and workforce development.
That doesn't mean every executive needs to become a technical AI specialist.
It does mean that the ability to understand emerging technologies, ask informed questions and oversee responsible implementation may become an increasingly valuable leadership capability.
Before implementing AI tools into a hiring process, organisations should consider five practical questions:
What problem are we trying to solve? Is the objective to improve communication, strengthen recruitment planning or reduce unnecessary administration?
Is the tool appropriate and approved? Does the proposed use meet organisational policies, privacy obligations and applicable government guidance?
What information will the tool access? Are appropriate safeguards in place to protect candidate and organisational information?
How will we maintain fairness and accountability? Who reviews the outputs, and how will the organisation ensure decisions remain evidence-based?
Will this improve the candidate experience? Does the technology create a clearer, more responsive process, or simply add complexity?
These questions help distinguish useful innovation from technology adoption that may introduce more risk than value.
Organisations don't necessarily need to automate their recruitment processes to benefit from AI.
In many cases, the strongest starting point may be improving the quality of recruitment briefs, strengthening internal administration and using approved tools to support market research and workforce planning.
Yes, AI can support appropriate recruitment activities such as drafting position descriptions, preparing communications and designing interview questions. However, its use must comply with applicable government guidance, privacy obligations and organisational policies. Generative AI should not replace human assessment or appointment decisions.
Organisations should not assume that automated shortlisting or candidate ranking is permissible. The use of AI for candidate assessment raises important fairness, transparency and privacy considerations. Victorian public sector guidance cautions against using generative AI to undertake assessments or decisions affecting individuals. Relevant policies and obligations must be checked before any such system is considered.
AI can assist with early research, recruitment briefing, organising public market information and preparing structured assessment materials. However, proactive candidate engagement, confidential conversations, leadership assessment and final appointment recommendations continue to require experienced professionals.
Executives don't necessarily need advanced technical knowledge. More important may be an understanding of the opportunities and limitations of AI, information governance, privacy, risk, workforce implications and how to oversee responsible adoption.
AI offers meaningful opportunities to improve the efficiency and consistency of recruitment.
For public sector organisations, the greatest value is likely to come from using the technology thoughtfully, with clear safeguards and a strong understanding of where human expertise remains essential.
Executive recruitment is ultimately about people, capability and organisational outcomes.
Technology can help organisations prepare, research and communicate more effectively. But identifying the right leader still requires an understanding of the organisation, the available talent market and the evidence needed to support a well-considered appointment.
For organisations reviewing their recruitment processes or preparing for senior appointments in 2027, the opportunity is to combine appropriate technology with the experience, relationships and judgement that successful executive search requires.
At W&Co Search, we work with public sector and executive clients to strengthen recruitment outcomes through proactive search, market intelligence and considered recruitment practices.
If you're reviewing your recruitment approach or planning an executive appointment, our team is available for a confidential discussion about how a targeted search or recruitment advisory approach could support your organisation.