The Department of Industrial Relations (also called DIR) was an

Australian government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the pr ...

department that existed between December 1978 and May 1982.

History

The department was established in 1978 by the Fraser government, splitting the former Department of Employment and Industrial Relations into two, reasoning that the two areas were expanding and should thus fall under separate portfolios.

Scope

Information about the department's functions and government funding allocation could be found in the Administrative Arrangements Orders, the annual Portfolio Budget Statements and in the Department's annual reports. At its creation, the Department was responsible for the following: *industry-orientated industrial relations *national industrial relations - legislation and machinery *national industrial relations policies - wages and working conditions *industrial relations information and liaison *economic and international aspects of industrial relations *Industrial registries

Structure

The Department was an

Australian Public Service The Australian Public Service (APS) is the federal civil service of the Commonwealth of Australia responsible for the public administration, public policy, and public services of the departments and executive and statutory agencies of the G ...

department, staffed by officials who were responsible to the Minister for Industrial Relations. The department was dependent on the Department of Employment and Youth Affairs for administrative services and accounting functions. The

Secretary A secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, program evalu ...

of the Department was Mick Keogh between 1978 and 1981. In December 1981, Mike Codd was appointed Acting Secretary. Codd's position was made permanent in 1982, around the same time the department was abolished and the new Department of Employment and Industrial Relations was established.

References

Ministries established in 1978

Industrial Relations Industrial relations or employment relations is the multidisciplinary academic field that studies the employment relationship; that is, the complex interrelations between employers and employees, labor union, labor/trade unions, employer organ ...

1978 establishments in Australia 1982 disestablishments in Australia {{Australia-gov-stub