Finance’s professionalism, expertise and collaboration is integral in delivering the Federal Budget – from developing and testing complex policy positions and supporting Cabinet and Expenditure Review Committees to providing the IT platforms and managing thousands of system adjustments and submissions.
On Friday 15 May, Secretary Matt Yannopoulos and the Minister for Finance, the Hon Katy Gallagher brought staff together to recognise their exceptional advice, support and work in delivering the 2026–27 Budget.
‘The Budget reflects the trust that the Government places in Finance to take on complex, high-impact work across fiscal stewardship, regulation, service delivery, digital capability, assurance and public sector reform.’
- Secretary Matt Yannopoulos
In addition to the support provided to Government in delivering the Budget, there are several important measures for Finance in the Budget which make up an ambitious delivery agenda for the year ahead.
- Regulatory reform: progressing actions expected to reduce regulatory burden across the economy, a major contribution to the Government’s productivity agenda.
- Fuel security: delivering new measures, including strategic reserves and expanded powers for Export Finance Australia to strengthen supply resilience.
- Defence reform: establishing an independent cost assurance function to improve the quality and credibility of capability costing.
- Defence Estate: supporting Finance’s work in managing property divestments arising from the Defence Estate Audit.
- Inland Rail: implementing decisions that support budget repair while preserving future freight options.
- Comcover: transitioning to an in-house model for claims management to strengthen accountability, assurance and value for money.
- Digital ID: moving to a permanent, sustainable footing to expand use, reduce fraud and improve service delivery.
- CBMS: completing the transition to a secure cloud platform to enhance system capability, resilience and reliability.
Finance Secretary Matt Yannopoulos outlines the measures for Finance in the Budget which make up an ambitious delivery agenda for the year ahead.
Finance’s leadership team Anna Harmer, Matt Yannopoulos, Richard Windeyer, Marisa Purvis-Smith and Simon Newnham with Finance Minister Katy Gallagher (centre).
Finance Minister, the Hon Katy Gallagher, thanks staff for their efforts during her address.
Finance Minister Katy Gallagher meets staff at the post-Budget event.
Find out more
To discover what the Budget means for you, head to budget.gov.au.
