I've been going through the competition process for a government job since November last year. After testing and written exams I had the actual physical interview in July. I know that they did my reference checks because the people I had listed are friends of mine and they called me to tell me they'd sent all the paperwork in.

So my question is - it's now the 2nd week of September. Is it inappropriate to write to the HR contact and inquire about the status of the competition, or is that just sort of pestering them and might look bad. I realize it's government and these things take forever, but I'm really really anxious.
Well, I've already done the interview, and I assume I've passed it or else they wouldn't have called my references - right? They're creating a pool, so that's probably 50 or 100 candidates they're looking to place on the list...

Like the other user said you should feel free to contact them unless they gave you a date.

Unless they have given you a specific date as to when they would contact you, you should feel free to get in touch with them. Tell them that you are very interested in the job and you would like to know the status of their decision-making process.

In the meantime, you should not stop looking. Good luck!