What's your job about?
The External Budgets team is responsible for providing advice on the Commonwealth Budget process, preparing key Budget documents, supporting the development of new policy proposals and approving commitments of funds.
Within the External Budgets team, I assist with helping different areas of the department budget and cost their new policy proposals. As we are currently preparing for an upcoming Commonwealth Budget there are lots of new policies coming forward.
As I am providing advice and guidance, the work I do can vary a lot and no day is ever the same.
On certain days I may also have graduate commitments and opportunities from being part of the graduate program. These are mostly in the form of meetings, diploma workshops, industry projects and presentations from different areas of the department. I have found these extremely useful in building my workplace and personal skills as well as networking. Being in the graduate program presents many opportunities that can be used in both career and personal life.
What's your background?
I grew up in Canberra and graduated from the Australian National University in 2020. I started my first full-time position after university in the graduate program in 2021.
The External Budgets team is one of the main rotations for a finance graduate, so it was part of the program from the start. I have been in this current rotation for almost 5 months.
I am pursuing sport (field hockey) at a high level, so it was really important to me to have a job that had a really good work-life balance to enable me the time and energy to train and play consistently.
Could someone with a different background do your job?
While having a finance background may help, it is certainly not a requirement for my job. The External Budgets team rotation is open to all graduates and requires great communication skills, and the ability to work with numbers and pick up and understand new pieces of information quickly. There is a large policy component that may also be appealing to generalist graduates.
What made you pick DAWE as your graduate program?
I have a passion for agriculture and the environment and through the finance stream, I was able to also pursue my interest in finance at the same time. Additionally, my family has a farm selling produce, so it was extra motivation to become a public servant and help people like my family in areas relating to agriculture and the environment.
When you graduated from university, what were your goals for your future?
My immediate goals were to work in an interesting workplace that enabled me to pursue my career in hockey while also expanding on the knowledge and skills I learned while at university.
How has DAWE helped you achieve these goals?
DAWE has been extremely flexible and accommodating to my hockey commitments. Through my rotations and graduate studies, I have learnt an incredible amount of technical and theoretical skills as well as many soft skills that have helped me improve both in my career and personal life.
What is the culture at DAWE like?
I’ve loved the culture at DAWE. From the moment I joined the graduate program and met all of my teams I’ve felt very welcomed and accepted. Everyone has been accepting of my individual circumstances and needs and helped me feel like a valued member of the department.
What’s the best thing about your job?
I love the challenges my job presents as it makes me critically think and engage heavily with my work. Overcoming these challenges is a great feeling and helps build important skills I will need throughout my professional career. I also get great satisfaction when we assist line areas within the department with their new policy proposal and they are granted funding. While I may not be on the front line delivering the policy, I helped bring it to life so I know I am helping Australia and the Australian public.
Being part of the rotation during a pre-election Budget was really cool. This doesn’t happen often, and it was really great seeing how the department and Australian Public Service operate in regard to election commitments.
What are the limitations of your job?
At times it can be stressful and very fast-paced as we work across many different proposals with tight timelines and timeframes. The job does require you to be at 100% focus and concentration all day every day and work additional hours on certain days.
What 3 pieces of advice would you give yourself when you were a student?
Ask lots of questions. Trust your ability. Make sure you enjoy what you do.