All forms of job advertisements must be non-discriminatory, and must not be misleading, in order to avoid liability under federal, state and territory anti-discrimination legislation or the Australian Consumer Law.

Importantly, however, a job advertisement which requires prospective employees to possess a particular personal characteristic will not fall foul of anti-discrimination laws if that characteristic if a genuine occupational requirement of the job.

See Employment advertisements.

Representations about matters such as salary or bonuses, future job security, the nature of the position, or promotion prospects may be considered to have binding legal effect — with the result that an employee could bring an action for breach of contract and/or for breaches of various provisions of the Australian Consumer Law, if such representations are not honoured.

See Pre-employment representations.

Federal, state and territory anti-discrimination statutes contain specific provisions prohibiting discrimination in relation to advertising and the offering of employment. These provisions also extend to prohibiting discrimination in relation to employment policies, pre-employment questions, interviews, and application forms and other forms (such as medical forms and criminal records check forms) used in recruitment and pre-employment processes.

See Recruitment-specific anti-discrimination provisions.