Portfolio: Finance
http://www.finance.gov.au
$380M
2025-26 Estimated Total Expenses$1.8B
2024-25 Total Revenue1,200
Headcount (2024-25)Digital ID Program
Department of Finance
Total Budget
$408.2M
Digital Budget
$187.8M
July 2023 — June 2026
The Digital ID program aims to provide Australians with a secure, convenient, voluntary and inclusive way to prove their identity online. Key components include a legislative framework, an Accreditation Scheme, and the Australian Government Digital Identity System. The program will also focus on increasing public awareness and adoption across government and the private sector.
Election Systems Modernisation Program (Indigo)
Australian Electoral Commission
Total Budget
$NFPM
Digital Budget
$NFPM
January 2020 — June 2029
The Indigo Program aims to modernise core ICT infrastructure and systems of the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) to deliver integrated, secure and modern electoral services that meet community needs and expectations into the future. The replacement of legacy systems with modern technology and infrastructure will enhance and bolster the AEC’s ability to manage security risks and strengthen Australia’s ongoing democratic resilience. Tranche 1 has been delivered, and Tranche 2A is scheduled to be completed in 2027. The AEC will seek authority to come back for a future budget request to undertake Tranche 2B.
Funding and Disclosure Reform Program
Australian Electoral Commission
Total Budget
$NFPM
Digital Budget
$NFPM
March 2025 — June 2028
The purpose of the AEC is to maintain an impartial and independent electoral system for eligible voters. As part of this, the AEC regulates the Commonwealth Funding and Disclosure Scheme. The government has introduced legislative amendments to address recommendations of the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters (JSCEM) related to this scheme. The Funding and Disclosure Reform Program was established in March 2025 to enable the AEC to implement the legislative amendments to the scheme. Under the program, the AEC will develop modern, agile and scalable IT platforms, uplift AEC capability, policy and processes consistent with its evolving regulatory role, and deliver a comprehensive package of communications and guidance to support stakeholders transition to new legislative obligations.
Health Delivery Modernisation (HDM)
Services Australia
Total Budget
$487.6M
Digital Budget
$194.4M
July 2018 — September 2025
The HDM Program stabilised, modernised and transformed the health payments system that underpins Medicare, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and other health-related programs. The HDM Program delivered new digital health services and established new health transformation capabilities to strengthen and modernise digital health across Australia’s healthcare settings, platforms and systems.
Parliamentary Expenses Management System (PEMS) Enhancement Project
Department of Finance
Total Budget
$11.2M
Digital Budget
$10.6M
July 2024 — June 2026
The PEMS is a digital solution for the management and reporting of human resources and payroll, as well as office and travel expenses for parliamentarians, their staff and the administering agencies. The Enhancement Project is a 2-year initiative that will deliver improvements and efficiencies to the functionality of PEMS.
Polling Place Technology Project
Australian Electoral Commission
Total Budget
$15.5M
Digital Budget
$15.5M
January 2022 — June 2025
This project is delivering enhanced technology to enable expansion of voter and polling place technology, through up to 10,000 laptops accessing an electronic copy of the electoral roll, called an Electronic Certified Lists. Electronic Certified Lists are portable computers deployed to polling places as a replacement to paper certified lists. The program is trialling a ‘digital officer in charge return’ at selected polling locations, which allows results to be transmitted directly into the AEC election management system.
Safely Connecting Australians with Support
Services Australia
Total Budget
$49.5M
Digital Budget
$25.6M
July 2024 — June 2026
Enhancements to the myGov platform to continue to respond to the findings of the Critical National Infrastructure myGov User Audit. This includes enhancements to the myGov support tool, strengthening myGov fraud detection capabilities, improving the myGov inbox and other communication capabilities, and supporting users to better secure their myGov accounts.
Improving transparency of procurement data to support the Buy Australian Plan
Department of Finance
Total Budget
$9.9M
Digital Budget
$9.9M
October 2023 — July 2027
This initiative supports the implementation of the Buy Australian Plan by improving the transparency of Australian Government procurement activity through enhanced AusTender capabilities, including the establishment of a dedicated and integrated panel supplier portal. It is also improving AusTender’s reporting capability to increase transparency.
Overseas Health Practitioner Digital Registration Project (OHPDR)
Services Australia
Total Budget
$15M
Digital Budget
$7.7M
July 2024 — February 2026
Australia is facing a shortage of key healthcare practitioners, putting the health system and existing workforce under pressure. Australians – especially those living in rural and remote areas – are finding it increasingly difficult to access healthcare. Services Australia is delivering the OHPDR as part of the 2024–25 Budget Measure ‘Health workforce’. This is implementing Recommendation 2, Automate the issuance of Medicare provider numbers, of the Final Report of the Independent Review of Australia’s Regulatory Settings Relating to Overseas Health Practitioners. The report, endorsed by National Cabinet, made recommendations to improve health practitioner registration, skill and qualification recognition for overseas trained health professionals and international students who have studied in Australia.
Response to Services Australia Budget and Efficiency Review – the Cyber Security Uplift Project (CSUP)
Services Australia
Total Budget
$NFPM
Digital Budget
$NFPM
July 2024 — June 2025
The CSUP was established to address immediate agency cyber security risk and improve its cyber security maturity.
Service Delivery Office Security and Reliability
Department of Finance
Total Budget
$12M
Digital Budget
$12M
July 2024 — June 2026
The Security and Reliability program will deliver necessary ICT upgrades with a focus on cyber and data capabilities to maintain the security and reliability of the Service Delivery Office, systems which provide corporate shared services to 16 client entities across the APS.
Services Australia Improved Safety for Staff and Customers Phase 2
Services Australia
Total Budget
$362.2M
Digital Budget
$109.8M
July 2024 — July 2026
The project is implementing recommendations of the Security Risk Management Review to strengthen security and safety measures for Services Australia staff and customers. The 2024–25 Budget committed an additional $314.1 million over 2 years to implement some of the remaining recommendations of the review in full, strengthening security and safety measures to achieve sustained benefits for Services Australia staff and customers (Phase 2). A total of 14 review recommendations will be implemented in full with government funding (via 7 registered projects) and the remaining 30 recommendations with existing agency resources.
Strengthening Medicare - Chronic Wound Consumables Scheme for Patients with Diabetes
Services Australia
Total Budget
$16.7M
Digital Budget
$10.4M
June 2023 — June 2026
This project is improving the management of wounds for patients in primary care settings by providing education and training for healthcare professionals and providing fully subsidised wound consumable products to people with chronic wounds. The pilot phase of this project is limited to people with a chronic wound and diabetes who are aged 65 and over (or aged 50 and over for First Nations people). If the pilot is successful, the program may be expanded to all Australians with chronic wounds.
Deep analysis based on public data, citizen voice research, and policy tracking
Federal Budget Deficit (2025-26)
$42.1B forecast (1.5% of GDP)
failing
Gross Debt Trajectory
$1.22T by 2028-29
at risk
SME Share of Procurement
11% by value — target 20%
at risk
Commonwealth Procurement Rules
Overhauled Nov 2025
delivered
Chief AI Officers Mandate
Required in all agencies by July 2026
on track
GovAI Chat
Trials from April 2026
on track
Future Fund Returns
12.4% in 2025 — $335.3B managed
delivered
Digital ID Framework
Development ongoing — trust issues persist
at risk
APS Reform
Ongoing — limited on-ground change perceived
at risk
myGov Platform
Still top complaint — UX investment continuing
at risk
Consultant Reduction
Target set but data unclear
at risk
Trust in Public Services
62% (up 4pp year-on-year)
on track
Digital Services
“myGov is absolutely useless and should be completely redesigned. It is complicated and not user friendly. I spent 2 hours trying to log in.”
Citizen review, Digital Services
Procurement
“A small business is not looking for a belated, legal victory through a judicial review. That brings no comfort. They want a fair opportunity to compete to be the supplier.”
Bruce Billson, Australian Small Business Ombudsman
Public Service Trust
“I was without income for three months because of the time it took to process my claim.”
Citizen survey respondent, APSC Trust Survey 2025
Grants & Accountability
“ACOSS welcomes the Federal Government's new Community Sector Grants Engagement Framework as a positive step towards ensuring a stronger and more sustainable community sector.”
ACOSS
Government Business
“The Future Fund has recorded a return of 12.4 per cent for the calendar year, adding $29.54 billion to its value. Total funds managed by the Board of Guardians increased to $335.3 billion.”
Future Fund Portfolio Update
Budget
“Rising deficits threaten fiscal flexibility. After major spending during the COVID-19 pandemic, restoring fiscal discipline is crucial to ensuring the Australian economy can respond effectively to future economic shocks.”
Prof. Richard Holden, UNSW Business School
48
Overall Sentiment: 48/100
Mixed
45
Budget & Financial Management
40
Procurement & Asset Management
50
Governance & Accountability
55
Digital Transformation & ICT
55
Government Business & Funds
60
Electoral Administration (AEC)
50
Innovation & Revenue
$785.7B
2025-26 Commonwealth spending moving through Finance's budget and governance machinery
Finance is the Commonwealth's machinery department: it shapes the $785.7B federal budget, sets the rules for $70B+ in procurement, oversees grants and financial governance, and carries the digital, data, superannuation, and investment levers that affect almost every other agency. It has around 1,300 departmental staff, sits inside the Finance portfolio with entities like the DTA, AEC, CSC, AOFM, and Future Fund Management Agency, and is led by Secretary Matt Yannopoulos and Minister Katy Gallagher.
The research across the Finance pack is consistent: Finance is seen as technically capable but publicly remote. Sentiment sits at 48/100 because the department is mostly invisible until something breaks. People notice Finance when budgets look political, procurement feels rigged, grants lose credibility, or digital systems like myGov and AusTender fail basic usability tests. The department's challenge is not a lack of frameworks. It is a lack of visible, citizen-facing proof that those frameworks produce fairer, simpler, more accountable outcomes.
What People Want
Plain-English explanations of where money goes, what Finance controls, and what is changing.
Visible proof that procurement, grants, and digital reforms are making life easier rather than just adding new policy language.
A department that is easier to understand and easier to hold accountable.
What Finance Is Doing
Running the core machinery of budget policy, financial governance, procurement rules, grants policy, and whole-of-government digital settings.
Overseeing key portfolio entities including DTA, AEC, Future Fund, CSC, AOFM, and Comcover.
Publishing budget papers, corporate plans, frameworks, and reforms that shape how the rest of government operates.
Gaps & Risks
Finance has enormous influence but almost no direct public profile, so failures are visible while routine competence is invisible.
Most people experience Finance indirectly through broken systems or political controversy, not through clear service value.
The department is judged on outcomes it shapes but does not always directly deliver, which makes trust fragile.
Sources & Methodology
Department of Finance Portfolio Budget Statements 2025-26
Department of Finance Annual Report 2024-25
Department of Finance Corporate Plan 2025-26
Commonwealth Procurement Rules and November 2025 procurement reforms
ASBFEO Inquiry Report on Commonwealth Procurement Rules
Australian Public Service Commission — Trust in Australian Public Services 2025
OECD Government at a Glance 2025: Australia
Australian Public Service AI Plan 2025
Data and Digital Government Strategy — 2025 Implementation Plan
Future Fund Portfolio Update (December 2025)
Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation Corporate Plan 2025-26 to 2028-29
Australian Office of Financial Management annual reporting and debt issuance materials
Department of Veterans' Affairs — Veterans' Entitlements, Treatment and Support Simplification and Harmonisation Bill 2024 summary
Ministerial releases, ombudsman reports, stakeholder submissions, and public commentary cited in the Finance research pack (2024-2026)
Read our full methodology →Bodies within the Finance portfolio
CEA Technologies Pty Limited
Commonwealth Company
Parliamentary Workplace Support Service (PWSS)
Non-corporate Commonwealth Entity
Australian Naval Infrastructure Pty Ltd
Commonwealth Company
Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority
Non-corporate Commonwealth Entity
Digital Transformation Agency
Non-corporate Commonwealth Entity
Services Australia
Non-corporate Commonwealth Entity
Future Fund Management Agency
Non-corporate Commonwealth Entity
Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation
Corporate Commonwealth Entity
Australian Electoral Commission
Non-corporate Commonwealth Entity
ASC Pty Ltd
Commonwealth Company
National Data Advisory Council
Statutory Body
Future Fund Board of Guardians
Statutory Body