Photo, Age and Address: What to Leave Off Your Resume in Australia and NZ

Look at resumes from twenty years ago and you will often find a full street address, a date of birth, marital status, a list of hobbies and sometimes a passport-style photo in the top corner.

Some people still include all of these. In Australia and New Zealand, most of them should come off.

Personal details take up space and add nothing to your case for the role. Worse, they can invite unconscious bias. A reader who sees your age, your photo or your suburb may form a view before they reach your experience.

Here is what to leave off, what to keep and why.

The short answer

Leave off:

• Photo

• Date of birth or age

• Marital status or children

• Full street address

• Gender

• Religion, nationality or cultural background (unless the role requires it)

• Health information

• Your tax file number, IRD number or any ID numbers

• Hobbies that add nothing to your case

Keep:

• Your name

• Mobile number

• Email address

• LinkedIn URL

• City or suburb and state (or city and region in New Zealand)

• Work rights, if relevant to the role

Why not include a photo?

In some countries, a photo is expected. In Australia and New Zealand, it is not, and most recruiters would prefer you did not include one.

There are three reasons.

Bias. A photo tells the reader your approximate age, gender and appearance. None of these are relevant to your ability to do the job. Removing the photo helps the reader focus on what matters.

Applicant tracking systems. Many systems struggle with images, which can scramble your layout or cause parts of your resume to be missed.

Space. A photo takes up valuable room on your first page, the part most likely to be read.

If a recruiter wants to see you, they will look at your LinkedIn profile. That is where a good, professional photo belongs. See photos and banners for executive LinkedIn profiles.

The exceptions are some acting, modelling and presenting roles, where appearance is part of the job.

Why not include your age or date of birth?

Your age has nothing to do with your ability to do the job, and listing it invites assumptions.

Younger candidates may be seen as inexperienced. Older candidates may be seen as expensive or close to retirement. Both are unfair, and both happen.

It is also worth checking other places your age shows up. Graduation years and long career histories can signal your age just as clearly. You do not need to hide your experience, but you also do not need to list every role back to 1990. Most readers care about the last ten to fifteen years. For more on this, see the executive job search after 55.

Why not include your full address?

A full street address used to be standard so employers could post you a letter. Nobody does that now.

Your full address also raises privacy concerns. Your resume may be shared, saved or forwarded more widely than you expect.

There is also a subtler issue. A reader may make assumptions about your commute, or about the area you live in. Listing your city or suburb is enough to show you are local.

If you are relocating, say so clearly. “Relocating to Brisbane in March 2027” removes doubt and stops your application being set aside as out of area.

Marital status, children and family

These have no place on a resume. They are personal, they are not relevant, and they can invite bias, particularly against women of child-bearing age and parents of young children.

If you have had a career break for family reasons, you can explain the gap briefly without going into detail. See how to explain a career break on a senior resume.

Nationality and work rights

You do not need to list your nationality. You may need to state your work rights.

If you are an Australian or New Zealand citizen or permanent resident applying in your home country, you usually do not need to say anything. If you are on a visa, or applying across the Tasman, a short line can help. For example: “Full work rights in Australia” or “New Zealand citizen with full work rights in Australia”.

This removes a question the recruiter would otherwise need to ask.

What about hobbies and interests?

At early career level, a short line of interests can help if they show something useful. Captaining a sports team, running a club or volunteering can show leadership and commitment.

At senior level, they are rarely needed. The exception is board and community roles, where your involvement in a sector may be directly relevant. In that case, list it as community or board involvement rather than hobbies.

Whatever you include, make sure it would not surprise or worry a reader. “Extreme sports” may say more than you intend.

What should go at the top of your resume

Here is a clean contact block that works in both countries:

Jane Smith

Sydney, NSW | 0400 000 000 | [email protected] | linkedin.com/in/janesmith

That is it. Then go straight into your profile.

A simple email address matters too. Use your name, not a nickname or something you set up as a teenager.

Why this matters more than it seems

Recruiters scan resumes quickly. Anything on the first page that does not help your case pushes the useful information further down. Removing personal details gives more room to the things that get you shortlisted: your profile, your key skills and your most recent achievements.

It also makes your resume look current. A resume with a photo, date of birth and full address can look dated, which may lead a reader to assume your skills are dated too.

A quick check

Open your resume and look at the top third of the first page. Ask yourself:

• Is there anything here a recruiter does not need to decide whether to call me?

• Is there anything that might lead someone to judge me on something other than my work?

• Does my contact information include my LinkedIn URL?

Remove anything that does not pass. Then use the space for something that sells.

What about your LinkedIn profile?

LinkedIn works differently. Recruiters expect a photo on LinkedIn, and profiles with a photo are viewed far more often than those without one. Your location is also shown, usually as a city or region.

Your resume and LinkedIn should agree on the important details: names of employers, titles, dates and your main achievements. They do not need to be identical. LinkedIn can be more personal and conversational. Your resume should stay focused and factual.

If you have taken personal details off your resume, check your LinkedIn for anything you would rather keep private. A birthday shown on your profile, for example, can be hidden in your settings.

Old habits that date a resume

Personal details are not the only thing that can make a resume look old. Other common ones include:

• “Curriculum Vitae” written in large letters at the top

• An “Objective” section about what you want rather than what you offer

• A landline phone number

• An email address from an old internet provider

• “References available on request” in a very large font

• Two spaces after every full stop

• Fancy fonts that are hard to read on screen

None of these will stop you getting a role on their own. Together, they can suggest a candidate who has not kept up. A clean, current look tells the reader you pay attention to detail.

What applicant tracking systems need

Many employers use software to collect and sort applications. These systems read your resume as text. They need your name, phone and email in plain text near the top. They often cannot read text in headers, footers, tables or images.

That is another reason to keep your contact block simple. Put it in the body of the document, not in a header, and do not turn it into a graphic. See whether ATS systems screen executive resumes for how these systems really work.

A quick before and after

Here is a typical contact block from an older resume:

“Jane Mary Smith. 14 Example Street, Sometown NSW 2000. Date of birth: 3 March 1978. Married, two children. Australian citizen. Home phone, mobile and email.”

And here is the cleaner version:

“Jane Smith. Sydney, NSW. Mobile, email and LinkedIn URL.”

The second version is shorter, safer and looks more current. It also leaves room for a profile that actually sells your experience.

Your next step

Take five minutes today and strip your resume back to name, phone, email, LinkedIn and location. Then read your new first page. It will look sharper straight away.

If you want your whole resume rebuilt so the first page does the work, my executive resume writing service starts with what a recruiter reads first.

If you are not sure what is holding your applications back, book a complimentary Clarity Session.