In 2026 the first international survey of political staff was launched, called the Comparative Political Advisers Survey (CompAS). It forms part of an international research project about political staff across 14 countries. The survey aims to compare experiences and attitudes of former political staff employed between 2014-2024 in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, UK, Czechia, Slovakia, Denmark, Portugal and Ireland. The survey comprises questions about patterns of contact, career steps, skills and resources, types of advice, experience of working with public servants and attitudes towards their role, and workplace challenges. This paper describes the process of recruiting staff for the survey in Australia which resulted in 101 respondents. It presents early analysis of the Australian data, mainly focusing on politicisation and reported attitudes towards players within the executive triangle.
