Finance and accounting stream in the National Graduate Program

The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Division manages Services Australia’s budget of over $5 billion and administers payments of around $200 billion on behalf of partner agencies.

We work with staff and support them to:

• establish an appropriate financial management framework
• exercise financial management responsibilities and controls in accordance with legislation
• contribute to the agency’s delivery of government outcomes.

Applicants should be energetic critical thinkers with an ability to undertake independent analysis and give recommendations on financial matters.

We’re looking for graduates who:

• thrive on a challenge
• have strong analytical skills
• wish to be part of a team driving change in best practice financial management.

The CFO Division gives financial advice, contestability, control and assurance to the agency based on the following principles:

• financial information that is accurate, transparent, consistent, relevant and timely
• simple, helpful, respectful, quality, contestable and informed financial advice to assist agency decision making
• standardised, centralised and streamlined financial structures, processes, reporting and services, in order to remove duplication and reduce inefficiencies
• automation of financial processes where it is efficient and viable to do so.

If you have any of the following degrees, you can apply to both our finance and accounting stream and generalist streams. If you’re assessed as suitable for both streams, we’ll try to match you in the finance and accounting stream first.

Once you start, you’ll stay in the finance and accounting stream for the duration of the program.

Read about how to apply.

You can also apply for the finance and accounting stream from the Australian Government Graduate Program on the APS Jobs website. You can preference Services Australia.

Type of degree

We’re looking for graduates with degrees in any the following:

• accounting
• commerce, majoring in accounting or finance
• economics, majoring in accounting
• finance, majoring in accounting.

We’re also looking for graduates with a degree in any of these subjects and related areas:

• actuarial studies
• business analysis
• information systems technology with an interest in finance systems
• statistics.

Range of work

In the finance and accounting stream you may work in several of areas, including:

• budgeting and costing - prepare costings for government and our agency’s budget
• statutory and asset reporting - prepare the agency’s financial statements and perform treasury management functions
• financial governance - ensure financial governance is maintained and in compliance with the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 and taxation management
• financial systems - ensure controls and systems governance, analyse systems for improvement and development of system requirements
• procurement - provide advice according to the Commonwealth Procurement Rules and provide end to end procurement and contract management services
• finance partnering - support key internal stakeholders by providing independent, accurate and timely business and financial performance reporting.