Business Enabling Services

Chief Financial Officer

Assistant Secretary, Chief Financial Officer: Neil Dawson
Phone: 02 6215 3805

Chief Financial Officer contributes towards the outcomes of the Department by providing reliable and timely financial information that supports decision making and seeks to drive improved organisational performance. In addition, the Procurement and Contract team sits within the Finance Chief Financial Officer Branch and is responsible for the central oversight of all Departmental procurement processes. They also provide procurement data analysis and reporting, delivery of procurement learning and development and conducts procurement quality assurance reviews.

Communications

Assistant Secretary: Sally Harris
Phone: 02 6215 2503

The Communications Branch provides advice and assistance on the department’s internal and external communication activities, including coordination of media enquiries and management of key intranet and external websites. It is also responsible for the whole-of-Government co-ordination of advertising campaigns including policy advice, governance, procurement arrangements and campaign development support. 

Parliamentary, Governance and Strategy

A/g Assistant Secretary: Vanessa Boyley
Phone: 02 6215 1611

The Parliamentary, Governance and Strategy Branch provides advice and support to our Ministers, the Department and portfolio entities to fulfil their responsibilities to the Parliament, including management of parliamentary processes (e.g. Senate Estimates, QTBs, ministerial correspondence and briefings) and Cabinet support. The Branch also delivers secretariat services to Finance’s governance committees and coordinates the preparation of Finance’s corporate plan and annual report. The Branch further supports a range of capacity building projects under DFAT funded Official Development Assistance (ODA) programs in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the Pacific, and supports the Department hosting visiting foreign delegations. 

Business Services and Support

Assistant Secretary: Brent Heaver
Phone: 02 6215 2550

Facilities Management delivers a range of workplace services to the department including:

• Property and facilities management
• Office services
• Protective security management
• Information and records management

Human Resources

Assistant Secretary : Catherine McLachlan
Phone: 02 6215 3197

HR Assist
Phone: 02 6215 3937

Human Resources delivers a range of human resource services to the department including:

• recruitment and payroll services
• advice and support on employee relations and conditions
• work health and safety services
• assisting the department to embed its strategic goals through workforce planning, staff surveys and targeted recruitment programs, including the Graduate program
• advice and support on HR policy and programs
• management and provision of learning and development opportunities.

For more information, feel free to contact the friendly staff at the HR Assist.

Legal and Assurance

Assistant Secretary: Kelly Hoffmeister
Phone: 02 6215 2594

Legal and Assurance Branch provides the Department of Finance with audit, risk, internal financial governance, and in-house legal advice and assistance including on:

• commercial and public law matters
• assistance in the management of litigation
• drafting commercial and other instruments
• co-ordination of FOI, privacy and lodging Finance Legislative Instruments for registration on the Federal Register of Legislation.

The Legal and Assurance Branch is also responsible for:

• supporting the Audit Committee including the provision of internal audit services
• liaison with the ANAO as the department’s external auditors
• implementing the Enterprise Risk Management Framework
• implementing the Fraud Control Framework including fraud and corruption
• internal financial governance including PGPA compliance, maintaining the Accountable Authority Instructions and internal financial delegations.

CBMS Operations

Assistant Secretary: Cathryn Martin
Phone: 02 6215 2285

The Central Budget Management System (CBMS) manages the flow of financial information between Finance and Commonwealth Government entities to facilitate cash and appropriation management, preparation of budget documentation and financial reporting.

The CBMS branch is responsible for providing support for CBMS users, in both Finance and other entities, including second and third level service request and incident resolution, problem and change management, quality control, training development and delivery, communications to users (including the management of the CBMS GovTEAMS community) and managing the vendor contracts for system development and maintenance. In conjunction with ICT’s Internal Services & Cyber branch, the CBMS branch manages the CBMS solution and its supporting ICT infrastructure.

Government Services

Assistant Secretary: Marcel Gabriel
Phone: 02 6215 1592

The Government Services Branch (GSB) delivers Whole-of-Government services to Commonwealth agencies.

The branch is responsible for providing and managing:

• GovTEAMS, a whole-of-government collaboration service for the Australian Public Service. It offers a range of features and apps that enable government employees and their industry partners to connect, share, and collaborate across organisational and geographical boundaries.
• GovLINK, a communications solution that enables government agencies to securely transfer data classified up to the PROTECTED level, between agency internet gateways.
• The Parliamentary Document Management System (PDMS), a transformational workflow system designed to streamline parliamentary records management across government.
• GovAI, a whole-of-government AI platform being piloted to accelerate APS adoption of generative AI. It is part of Finance’s program of initiatives to support a coordinated approach to AI implementation.

ICT Business, Strategy & Governance

Senior EL2: Lee Johnson
Phone: 02 6215 1371

The ICT Business, Strategy & Governance Section is responsible for the development and maintenance of the ICT Strategy and Cyber Security Strategy. Additionally, the section is responsible for managing the ICT budget and all ICT procurement for Finance, as well as for providing enterprise ICT architecture guidance and assurance to the department.

The ICT Business, Strategy & Governance Section consists of the below functions: 

• ICT Strategy and Governance develops and maintains Finance’s ICT Strategy and ICTD’s Front Door function managing demand for new and improved ICT services and providing transparent project reporting to Departmental committees and the Executive.
• Enterprise Architecture assures that our work maintains alignment to the ICT Strategy and architectural vision, whilst also providing advice to support delivery of existing and emerging ICT services for Finance and whole-of-government stakeholders. 
• The Budget and Reporting Team delivers ICTD budget management and reporting services to the division. 
• The ICT Procurement Team conducts all ICT and labour hire contract procurements valued at $10,000 or more for Finance; and manages internal ICT contracts for the Internal Services & Cyber Branch.

Internal Services & Cyber

Assistant Secretary: Patrick Roberts
Phone: 02 6215 1792

The Internal Services & Cyber Branch provides a range of essential services that support the work of our people, including staff and ministers. The branch delivers a high standard of support to clients through the Service Centre and Self-Service Portal, maintains and enhances the end-user desktop environment and its supporting services as well as business applications and the Finance information environment.

The branch also maintains and enhances core departmental IT infrastructure and supporting technology platforms. In addition, the branch delivers related business analysis and testing services, and ICT project services.

The branch delivers exceptional ICT support services to senior executives and ministerial offices, as evidenced in the feedback we regularly collect from our stakeholders.

The branch also delivers audiovisual services, manages ICT security operations, and provides cyber security policy, advice, certification and compliance across internal and external ICT systems, supporting the branch head in his role as Chief Information Security Officer (CISO).

Online Services

Assistant Secretary: Sharyn Clarkson
Phone: 02 6215 3339

Online Services Branch (OSB) delivers ‘whole of government’ digital services and platforms to address the needs of entities. Online services also develop and support the secure telecommunications and digital collaboration needs of the Australian Government. Online Services is responsible for:

• GovCMS which was built by government as a whole-of-government service.  GovCMS is available to organisations of any size. It is suitable for websites containing publicly available information up to Official: Sensitive. Using open-source technology (Drupal) on a public cloud platform, GovCMS also provides cyber security protection services.
• Directory.gov.au which provides information about government structures, organisations and key people in a single place, making it easier to find and update information. OSB also manages the back-end application on Salesforce cloud that enables agency updaters to update portfolio information into the Organisations and Appointments Register (OAR).
• Intra Commonwealth Optical-fibre Network (ICON), an optical fibre network that links Commonwealth offices throughout Canberra.
• Ministerial Communications Network (MCN) which provides secure telecommunications services to all Ministers, Parliamentary Offices, and Agency Heads, in Parliament House and throughout Australia.
• Jira provides tools for Agile teams in Finance to plan, assign, track, report, and manage work.
• Bulk Email Distribution service enables Finance business areas to manage email subscriptions and bulk emailing of newsletters and advisories.
• Our Service Design Team provides user centred design advice, training and services to OSB products and other Finance business groups.

COMCAR and Programs

Assistant Secretary: Alex McKellar
Phone: 02 6215 1609

COMCAR provides secure and confidential ground transport to a number of office holders across Australia. Reservations for can be made 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The branch is responsible for:

• Ground transport services to the governor-general, current and former Prime Ministers, parliamentarians, members of the Federal Judiciary and other office holders.
• Ground transport to visiting Guests of Government including Royalty and other foreign dignitaries.
• Transport support during major international events including the ASEAN Special Summit and G20, as well as various Ministerial forums hosted in Australia.
• Administering the Australian Political Exchange Council and the Australian Political Parties for Democracy Program.
• Supporting the delivery and management of the Parliamentary Expenses Management System (PEMS) including governance, strategy and assurance. 

HR Frameworks

Assistant Secretary: Amanda Bruce
Phone: 02 6215 1499

The Human Resources (HR) Frameworks Branch is responsible for HR service delivery including policy development and advice in relation to the MOP(S) Act employment framework.  

The branch is responsible for: 

• Providing payroll services to approx. 2300 MOP(S) Act employees throughout Australia, including HR Helpdesk and IT systems support.
• Developing and delivering the MOP(S) act employment framework, in consultation with relevant agencies and employees. 
• Administering other HR services for the MOP(S) workforce.
• Advising the relevant Ministers, and other stakeholders on policy matters relating to various pieces of legislation administered by the Department. 
• Providing policy advice on reforms to Commonwealth parliamentary workplaces Including contributing to the implementation of recommendations of the Set the Standard: Report on the Independent Review into Commonwealth Parliamentary Workplaces.

PBR Framework

Assistant Secretary: Sally Bektas
Phone: 02 6215 1444

The Parliamentary Business Resources (PBR) Framework Branch is responsible for policy development and advice in relation to parliamentarians' work expenses and the delivery of services, including office accommodation and support.

The branch is responsible for:

• Providing advice to our portfolio Ministers regarding parliamentarians’ access to work expenses.
• Advising parliamentarians and their employees on the PBR framework, including work expenses, and administering work expense claims.
• Liaising with relevant stakeholders in relation to the development of, and changes to, the work expenses of parliamentarians.
• Providing facilities and services to parliamentarians, including office accommodation and property services, equipment, and vehicles.
• Managing the provision of services in the Ministerial Wing of Parliament House and the Commonwealth Parliament Offices in State/Territory capital cities.

Digital Services

Assistant Secretary: Laura Sham
Phone: 02 6215 2813

The Digital Services Branch provides project management, client engagement, and service delivery IT capabilities to our client agencies. The Branch is also responsible for the Parliamentary Expense Management System (PEMS) platform.

Operation and Service Management

Assistant Secretary: Helen Martin
Phone: 02 6215 3508

The Operations & Service Management Branch, in the SDO, provides a range of corporate transactional services to Australian Government client agencies in the areas of Human Resources, Financial Operations, Credit Card Management and Service Management solutions. The Branch works collaboratively with client agencies on delivering services more efficiently, through streamlining processes and systems, and using automations to allow staff to focus on high-value, customer service-based activities.

Policy and Governance

A/g Assistant Secretary: Laura Sham
Phone: 02 6215 2813

The Policy & Governance Branch provides policy advice for whole of government corporate and shared services and leads the implementation of the Australian Public Service (APS) Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) approach. The branch supports smaller APS entities to choose the right ERP uplift to meet their needs and budgets. The Branch is also responsible for the financial management, performance reporting, internal audit controls, and assurance for the Division and the delivery of corporate shared services through the Service Delivery Office.