Sending the identical resume to every vacancy wastes the chance to show relevance, but maintaining several different resumes is hard to keep accurate. One workable approach is a single complete master version, with a copy adjusted for each application; if you prefer keeping a small number of versions for genuinely different role types, that works too.
Start with what the role asks for
Tailoring begins before you touch the resume. Read the job advertisement and position description properly, and download the candidate information pack if there is one. For APS roles it usually sets out the requirements, the process and what to submit, and its instructions override any general advice, including this series’. If something is unclear, the contact officer listed in the advertisement is there to be asked.
As you read, pull out the concrete requirements: the listed duties, the capabilities, any selection criteria. APS applications are assessed against the advertised requirements, although the exact process varies between departments, so tailoring is mostly about making your evidence for each requirement easy to find, particularly early in the document.
What to change
Not much, usually, but the right things.
The profile. The highest-value edit. Adjust which experience you lead with, which sector or result you feature, and which skills appear first.
The highlights. Swap examples in and out using the matching exercise from choosing useful career highlights.
The order of bullets in recent roles. Move the most relevant example in each recent role to the top. Resequencing is usually enough.
Relevant terms, where they accurately fit. Something I do as a habit is read the advertisement and pack closely for the specific terms the department keeps using, then use those terms in my resume wherever they honestly describe my experience. If the advertisement says "stakeholder engagement" and that is genuinely part of what you have done under another name, use their term, or both. It makes the connection between your experience and their requirements visible rather than leaving the reader to infer it. The limit matters as much as the habit: this is translation of work you have actually done. Wording borrowed for things you have not done is a claim you will have to defend, and phrases copied mechanically from the ad read as exactly that. The same principle applies to a cover letter or pitch.
The stable facts, work history, dates, education, should not need touching per application.
Cover letters and the written pitch
Where a short cover letter is requested, keep it conversational and in the first person, focus on what you offer the role, and use it to add something the resume cannot carry rather than restating it in sentences.
Many APS applications ask for something more substantial: a written pitch or a statement addressing selection criteria, often with a word limit. That is a different task with its own craft, beyond what this series covers, but the specific, evidenced examples built for your resume are the raw material a pitch is made from.