The British Consulate-General in Sydney is part of a global network providing a wide range of consular assistance and services to British people in Australia, in line with the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office’s (FCDO) published Consular Guidance and Customer Charter, Consular Services Strategy, local procedures, guidance and performance standards.  

As a member of the Consular Team in Sydney, you will provide high quality consular services to British nationals visiting or residing throughout New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory in line with our public guide: Support for British nationals abroad. 

You will work in an immediate team of 3 caseworkers to independently manage a range of consular assistance cases. You will report directly to the Consular Manager NSW/ACT located at the British Consulate-General in Sydney who will support you to deliver consular work and lead on more complex matters requiring escalation. You may also be expected to support consular service delivery in other parts of Australia and/or the Oceania region, where consular work can be complex due to differences in local contexts. 

Consular officers could make a direct difference to people’s lives in challenging circumstances. The job includes dealing with sensitive issues and may involve responding to crises and stressful events. The successful candidate will be working in a fast-paced and complex environment where the ability to work under pressure and with difficult subject matter is vital.

Those shortlisted can expect to be interviewed in the second of the week of 14 July 2025.

Roles and responsibilities

Consular assistance service delivery

• Sensitively deliver accurate advice, information and case management services to British nationals and their families (mostly remotely via telephone or email) on a range of issues such as imprisonment and detention; financial hardship and destitution; hospitalisations; supporting bereaved families; missing persons; mental health needs; child custody and other sensitive issues
• Provide occasional face-to-face support, including visiting British nationals in prison, immigration detention facilities, hospitals etc.
• Manage our Emergency Travel Document (ETD) service by printing ETDs, maintaining our collection appointment booking system, occasionally facilitating interviews, and escalating any complex issues to our ETD Centre
• Organise citizenship ceremonies, and occasionally other consular stakeholder or public-facing events
• Respond to customer correspondence in a timely and efficient manner
• Maintain accurate and concise case records on consular case management systems

Partnerships, communication and prevention

• Assist the team to build and maintain relationships with local authorities, including state and federal government agencies (the Australian Border Force and Corrective Services NSW) and non-government organisations to support case management
• Work collaboratively with internal teams, including colleagues and senior leaders in Australia, Oceania, consular casework teams in the UK and the FCDO overseas network
• Participate in team planning and delivery of consular prevention and stakeholder engagement activities
• Monitor changes in local procedures and practices, ensuring that all information and guidance given to British nationals reflects changes and is up to date, e.g. service provider lists, travel advice, web content on GOV.UK

Crisis

• As part of our whole-of-mission approach to crisis, participate in crisis preparation and response duties in the event of a crisis affecting a significant number of British nationals, including crisis events outside of Australia. Although rare, crisis work may involve working beyond your normal remit and outside your contracted hours

The formal job description may be subject to amendment in the future. The consular team in Australia is spread across four locations and 13 people. You may be expected to work flexibly and collaboratively with other team members, sometimes covering for periods of absence or other business needs.

• Strong customer service delivery, including sound problem solving skills and the ability to manage customer expectations
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including communicating with empathy when working with distressed people
• Strong teamwork skills, including working collaboratively and supporting others in a small team environment
• Strong self-awareness with a high degree of emotional intelligence and personal resilience
• Confident user of Microsoft Office software