The Finance Officer – Children, Young People & Families role at Hunter New England Local Health District supports a service based at John Hunter Children’s Hospital. The work combines reporting, analysis and month-end support with invoices, procurement, budget adjustments, stakeholder enquiries and day-to-day finance administration.
If you are deciding how to apply for Finance Officer, focus on the point where routine processing required financial judgement. The role can provide a practical entry into NSW Government finance for someone with current accounting study or recent finance experience, but the panel still needs evidence of financial literacy, Excel capability and accurate prioritisation. One complete example will often say more than a long list of systems and duties.
View the official job ad before you begin and download the position description containing the selection criteria. The role is permanent full-time at John Hunter Children’s Hospital in Newcastle, and applications close on Sunday 30 August 2026. Read the criteria before choosing examples so the set covers both finance accuracy and service to stakeholders.
In This Guide
- Finance Officer Role Snapshot
- Where You May Sit In The Competition
- Application Requirements For Finance Officer
- Candidate Requirements For Finance Officer
- Example Application Structure For Finance Officer
- Help With Your Finance Officer Application
Finance Officer Role Snapshot
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Role title | Finance Officer – Children, Young People & Families |
| Organisation / Entity | Hunter New England Local Health District |
| Job location | John Hunter Children’s Hospital, Newcastle, Hunter & Region |
| Job reference number | 595250 |
| Work type | Permanent full-time |
| Salary package | $82,337.78 to $84,205.25 plus super and salary packaging |
| Closing date | Sunday 30 August 2026 |
| Official job ad | View the official job ad |
Where You May Sit In The Competition
Verdict: This is one of the more achievable roles for an early-career finance professional who can show practical accounting fundamentals, strong organisation and an interest in learning health finance. The field will include finance officers, accounting graduates and people already supporting management accountants, so a general administration profile needs stronger finance evidence. Applicants who can connect transaction processing to reporting accuracy, budget control or stakeholder service will be easier to shortlist.
You could be competitive if…
You have recent study or experience covering invoices, reconciliations, reporting, Excel, budgets or finance enquiries, and you can show how you manage competing priorities. The role’s training and development support may suit someone moving into a larger finance environment, provided the basics are already real.
Transferable backgrounds that can work
Accounts receivable or payable officers, payroll and finance administrators, assistant accountants, practice staff and small-business bookkeepers may compete well if they can show sound accounting principles, analytical thinking and stakeholder service. Health experience is not essential, but the application should show respect for the service environment and the consequences of inaccurate financial support.
What is probably not enough
General administration with occasional invoice processing, a short online course without practical examples or an Excel claim limited to data entry is probably not enough. The panel needs confidence that you can work with financial information and learn the local systems safely.
Your application test
Can you describe a financial task where you checked the data, found or prevented a problem, managed the deadline and explained the result to a stakeholder? An invoice example becomes stronger when it shows the discrepancy you noticed, the procurement or budget issue behind it, the people you contacted and the outcome you protected. If that practical chain is missing, focus on building it before applying.
NSW Government Application Requirements
This vacancy asks for individual responses to the selection criteria contained in the position description. Use the exact criteria to structure the document and choose a distinct example for each area wherever possible. The combined set should make your finance fundamentals, organisation and service mindset visible without repeating the same situation several times.
Application Requirements For Finance Officer
- Individual responses to the selection criteria in the position description
Essential role requirements
- Relevant tertiary qualification in business, accounting or a related discipline, current study towards these qualifications, and/or relevant recent experience
- Category A vaccination and screening requirements
- Australian citizenship, permanent residency or New Zealand citizenship for permanent employment, subject to the listing conditions
NSW Government Candidate Requirements
The panel is looking for someone who can support accurate finance work while learning the systems and context of a large health service. Practical examples should show both sides of that responsibility: the financial check or analysis and the service provided to the person relying on it. Broad claims about teamwork or attention to detail will be difficult to rank without that context.
Candidate Requirements For Finance Officer
| Evidence area | How to demonstrate it |
|---|---|
| Financial reporting and analysis | Describe a report, reconciliation, month-end task or analysis you completed and the decision or action it supported. |
| Invoices, procurement and budgets | Show how you processed or checked financial transactions, handled budget adjustments or identified an issue before it became a larger problem. |
| Excel and accounting principles | Name the tools and checks you used. A general claim that you are advanced in Excel or understand accounting will carry less weight than a specific example. |
| Organisation and deadlines | Give an example of managing daily, monthly and ad hoc work without losing accuracy. |
| Stakeholder and customer service | Show how you handled a finance enquiry, explained a process or helped a colleague solve a problem. |
Example Application Structure For Finance Officer
The selection criteria are contained in the position description. Use their exact wording as headings where the application format allows and keep each response centred on one relevant example. This gives the panel a clear path between the criterion and the evidence.
Suggested response structure
- Set out the finance task and the service or stakeholder context.
- Explain the financial process, analysis or system work you completed.
- Show how you prioritised, checked accuracy and communicated with others.
- Finish with the result and the improvement or learning that followed.
Keep your examples close to the role. A retail, practice or private-sector example can work if it shows reliable financial support, sound judgement and service to people who depended on your work. Explain the transaction or report in plain language so the panel can see the transferable process even when the industry is different.
Help With Your Finance Officer Application
Before submitting, return to the official Finance Officer vacancy and read the position description, selection criteria and health screening requirements. Check that the full set of responses covers reporting or analysis, transaction accuracy, competing priorities and stakeholder service rather than leaning on one narrow accounts example.
If you want help turning finance experience into clear selection-criteria evidence, the NSW Government cover letter template can help you organise your examples. For hands-on support with your responses, you can request professional NSW Government application support.