This list of Australian Government entities includes ministerial departments, principal entities, secondary entities, and other entities, which are grouped into a number of areas of portfolio responsibility. Each portfolio is led by one or more government ministers who are members of the federal parliament, appointed by the governor-general on the advice of the prime minister.[1]
As of December 2023, there are 1,334 government entities reportable to the Australian Government Organisations Register. This includes:[2][3]
Principal entities are Australian Government entities that are defined in the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2011 as either a:
The Australian Government comprises 20 portfolio departments, each representing a seat in the federal cabinet and leading its respective portfolio area:[4][2]
There are 171 principal entities other than the cabinet departments. These government agencies are classified by the Australian Government Organisations Register as either a non-corporate Commonwealth entity, a corporate Commonwealth entity, or a Commonwealth company.[2]
Portfolio | Companies |
---|---|
Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry | |
Attorney-General's | |
Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water | |
Defence | |
Education | |
Employment and Workplace Relations | |
Finance | |
Foreign Affairs and Trade | |
Health and Aged Care | |
Industry, Science and Resources | |
Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts | |
Prime Minister and Cabinet | |
Social Services | |
Treasury | |
Veterans' Affairs |
Portfolio | Companies |
---|---|
Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water | |
Defence |
|
Education |
|
Finance |
|
Health and Aged Care |
|
Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts |
|
Prime Minister and Cabinet |
|
On 18 September 2013 an Administrative Arrangements Order was issued by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Prime Minister Tony Abbott[5] which replaced the previous Order of 14 September 2010 issued by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Gillard government.[6][7] The Order formed or re-confirmed government departments, as follows:
Following the appointment of Malcolm Turnbull as Prime Minister, three departments were renamed, with effect from 21 September 2015:[8]
Following the election of the Turnbull government, the Department of the Environment was renamed, with effect from 19 July 2016:[9][10]
Some departments were renamed, with effect from 20 December 2017:[11]
Following the election of the Morrison government, five departments were renamed, with effect from 29 May 2019:[12]
The number of departments were cut from 18 to 14, with effect from 1 February 2020:[13][14]
The new Albanese Government made the following modifications and increased the number of departments to 16, with effect from 1 July 2022:[15][16][17]