The course on Managing Government Finances aims to provide graduate students tools to understand and evaluate financial management within a public sector context. It provides those in public sector managerial positions with stronger grasp of management techniques and policy development and implementation skills relevant to a public sector environment.

The course includes a review and analysis of:

• the methods of financial decision-making and of analysis,
• development of evidence-based policy development and implementation,
• a description of the Australian government system and its component parts, and
• a review of recent developments in public sector financial management.

The course looks at key concepts in a range of government financial processes and applications. It examines the particular needs of managing finances in a public setting and the way accountability for financial operations is structured, practiced and held accountable.

The course is a mixture of principles and applications and focuses on a development of an understanding of managing government finances and an ability to apply these principles in practice.

The classes are a mixture of lectures, seminars, case studies and syndicate learning sessions and are multi-disciplinary in focus. No previous knowledge of finance, economics and accounting is assumed. The material starts from ‘ground zero’ (but moves fast).

The topics cover:

• the Australian institutional and statutory governance structure,
• the Australian Government budget formulation distribution and control,
• the development of evidence-based financial policy,
• financial management and performance at agency level,
• management and accounting frameworks at the operational level,
• governance implications of service delivery modes,
• risk management in the context of a range of public sector settings,
• accountability and audit including performance auditing