What is a Ghost Job?
A ghost job is a listing that appears on job boards but doesn't represent a genuine, active hiring effort. Companies post them to build talent pipelines, appear to be growing, satisfy internal compliance requirements, or because they simply forgot to take old listings down.
For job seekers, ghost jobs waste time. You apply, hear nothing, and never know the role wasn't real.
How We Detect Them
JobSentry analyses every listing using 7 evidence-based signals:
- Listing age — Jobs open for 30+ days are increasingly likely to be ghost listings
- Reposting frequency — The same role reposted repeatedly suggests no real intent to fill
- Description vagueness — Very short descriptions correlate with placeholder listings
- Talent pool language — "Expressions of interest" or "ongoing recruitment" suggest pipeline building
- Salary non-disclosure — While common in Australia, undisclosed salary is one signal among many
- Recruiter + unnamed client — Recruiter-posted jobs where the employer is hidden face less accountability
- Expiry extension — Jobs whose closing date has been pushed back repeatedly, suggesting artificial longevity
The Good News
95.6% of Australian job listings appear to be genuine. Only 4.4% show enough red flags to warrant caution. The average ghost score across all listings is 30 out of 100 — well within the "probably active" range.
Salary Transparency
Only 25% of Australian job listings disclose a salary. South Australia leads at 30%, while the ACT and NT trail at 18%. Salary non-disclosure alone doesn't indicate a ghost job — but when combined with other signals, it adds weight.
Scam Signals
... listings flagged with scam indicators. Three-quarters use MLM/pyramid scheme language — commission-only "opportunity" posts that slip through job board filters. 14 listings requested upfront payment, and 4 asked for sensitive personal information like TFN or BSB numbers before interview.
Regulatory Context
Ghost jobs occupy a grey area in Australian law. The ACCC has indicated that misleading job advertisements may violate the Australian Consumer Law. The Fair Work Ombudsman has flagged concerns about listings that misrepresent employment terms. In December 2026, new privacy regulations will require organisations to disclose when personal data is used for significant automated decisions — which may affect ghost-posted pipeline listings that collect applications with no hiring intent.
In the US, states including Illinois and New York have introduced ghost job legislation requiring employers to disclose whether a listing represents a genuine vacancy. Similar regulatory pressure is building in Australia.
Methodology
This report analyses active job listings collected from Australian job boards via automated data ingestion from Adzuna, Jooble, Careerjet, and SerpAPI (Google Jobs). Ghost scoring uses 7 additive signals. Scam detection uses 10 AU-specific patterns (including NASC Fusion Cell indicators). Data is updated daily.
Data current as of 18 March 2026. This report is updated quarterly. JobSentry is a free Chrome extension — install it to see ghost job badges on every SEEK, Indeed, and LinkedIn listing.