Planners are vital to shaping the communities we live in, by assisting to create vibrant and liveable cities, towns and regions for people to enjoy.
The department works with industry, local government and the private sector to support a skilled planning workforce in NSW. This workforce is critical to ensuring our NSW planning system is effective, efficient and delivering good outcomes for communities.
Planning has not been immune to the skills shortage being felt across the country. The following initiatives aims to address this shortage connecting students with jobs, and councils with much-needed planners, particularly in our regional areas.
Cadetship program
To continue giving a strong start to our new generation of planners, in May 2023, we launched a council cadetship program to directly address NSW councils’ planning workforce shortages and support them to employ new locally based planning cadets.
The program includes $1.85 million in grant funding and ongoing end-to-end support to:
- encourage councils to onboard additional cadet planners and develop them into more senior roles
- grow more planners in NSW councils, particularly in regional areas where the planning skills shortage is most severe
- help planning graduates gain practical work experience while increasing the capacity of council planning teams.
From 19 May until 9 June 2023, councils were invited to apply for grants of $25,000 to fund planning cadets’ university tuition. We received stronger than anticipated interest with applications exceeding available grants. In response to this we expanded the program to allow all 74 councils that applied to receive one grant.
The following councils applied for and received grants of $25,000 to fund planning cadets’ university tuition:
- Albury City Council
- Armidale Regional Council
- Ballina Shire Council
- Bathurst Regional Council
- Bayside Council
- Bega Valley Shire Council
- Bellingen Shire Council
- Blayney Shire Council
- Bogan Shire Council
- Broken Hill City Council
- Byron Shire Council
- Cabonne Council
- Campbelltown City Council
- Cessnock City Council
- Clarence Valley Council
- Cobar Shire Council
- Coffs Harbour City Council
- Coolamon Shire Council
- Coonamble Shire Council
- Cowra Shire Council
- Cumberland Council
- Dubbo Regional Council
- Dungog Shire Council
- Edward River Council
- Eurobodalla Shire Council
- Fairfield City Council
- Forbes Shire Council
- Glen Innes Severn Council
- Goulburn Mulwaree Council
- Greater Hume Shire Council
- Griffith City Council
- Gunnedah Shire Council
- Inverell Shire Council
- Junee Shire Council
- Kempsey Shire Council
- Lake Macquarie City Council
- Lismore City Council
- Liverpool Plains Shire Council
- Mid-Coast Council
- Mid-Western Regional Council
- Moree Plains Shire Council
- Mosman Municipal Council
- Murray River Council
- Muswellbrook Shire Council
- Narrabri Shire Council
- Newcastle City Council
- Oberon Council
- Orange City Council
- Port Stephens Council
- Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council
- Randwick City Council
- Shellharbour City Council
- Shoalhaven City Council
- Singleton Council
- Snowy Valleys Council
- Strathfield Municipal Council
- Sutherland Shire Council
- Tamworth Regional Council
- The Council of the Municipality of Hunters Hill
- The Council of the Shire of Hornsby
- The Hills Shire Council
- Tweed Shire Council
- Upper Lachlan Shire Council
- Uralla Shire Council
- Wagga Wagga City Council
- Walgett Shire Council
- Warrumbungle Shire Council
- Waverley Council
- Weddin Shire Council
- Wentworth Shire Council
- Willoughby City Council
- Wingecarribee Shire Council
- Wollondilly Shire Council
- Yass Valley Council

For more information about our Strong Start Cadetship program:
- read the program guidelines (PDF, 977 KB)
- read the information pack for councils participating in the program (PDF, 1.47 MB)
- email the team at [email protected]
Mentoring program
To facilitate a strong start to our next generation of planners, in February 2023 we launched our first mentoring program open to any student or graduate planner working at a council in NSW.
Students and graduates were paired with experienced planners at the department, who share knowledge and expertise, provide coaching, expand professional networks, and support professional development. The program offers personal support when starting out in your career.
What’s happening now
The mentoring program is now underway, with 60 mentees from 48 councils taking part until December 2023.
All mentees have now been matched with a suitable mentor and started their mentoring journey, which includes:
- completing the Art of Mentoring online training
- attending 3 MS Teams webinar events: program launch, mid-program review, program close
- establishing a timetable for one-on-one meetings by working with their paired mentoring partner
- completing surveys throughout the program to ensure all mentees get what they need from the program.
For more information about our Strong Start mentoring program:
- read this Strong Start information pack (PDF, 1.1 MB)
- email the team at [email protected]
Student and graduate employment directory
Students and graduates can launch their careers by discovering a wide range of job opportunities on the Planning Institute of Australia’s Employment Directory.
We have partnered with the Planning Institute of Australia to create a new field “Student/Graduate Employment” on the employment directory to make it quicker and easier to discover relevant positions in local and state government, and the private sector.
Find your next job opportunity on the employment directory.
NSW councils can advertise for free
To help councils fill planner job vacancies, we are waiving the cost for all NSW councils to post an unlimited number of student or graduate planner jobs on the employment directory in 2023.
Councils can advertise student or graduate jobs for free. Simply download this Advertising Request form (PDF, 103 KB) and email it to [email protected]