The Department of Transport and Regional Services (DOTARS) was an

Australian government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government i ...

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

that existed between October 1998 and December 2007.

Scope

Information about the department's functions and/or government funding allocation could be found in the Administrative Arrangements Orders, the annual Portfolio Budget Statements, in the Department's annual reports and on the departmental website. According to the Administrative Arrangements Order (AAO) made on 21 October 1998, the Department dealt with: *Land transport (including road safety) *Civil aviation and air navigation *Aviation security *Delivery of regional and rural specific services *Maritime transport including shipping *Regional development *Matters relating to local government *Planning and land management in the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...

* Administration of the

Jervis Bay Territory The Jervis Bay Territory (; JBT) is an internal territory of Australia. It was established in 1915 from part of New South Wales (NSW), in order to give the landlocked Australian Capital Territory (ACT) access to the sea. It was administered b ...

, the

Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands ) , anthem = "''Advance Australia Fair''" , song_type = , song = , image_map = Australia on the globe (Cocos (Keeling) Islands special) (Southeast Asia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands , map_caption = ...

, the

Territory of Christmas Island Christmas Island, officially the Territory of Christmas Island, is an Australian external territory comprising the island of the same name. It is located in the Indian Ocean, around south of Java and Sumatra and around north-west of the ...

, the

Coral Sea Islands Territory Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secre ...

, the Territory of Ashmore and Cartier Islands, and of Commonwealth responsibilities on

Norfolk Island Norfolk Island (, ; Norfuk: ''Norf'k Ailen'') is an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head and about from Lord Howe Island. Together with ...

* Constitutional development of the Australian Capital Territory * Constitutional development of the Northern Territory of Australia

Intended outcomes

The department worked to help the Government of the day achieve its policy objectives by contributing to, and reporting against key outcomes. The 2002–03 departmental annual report identified the Department's two key outcomes as: *a better transport system for Australia; and *greater recognition and development opportunities for local, regional and territory communities.

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 responsible to the Minister of the day. The Department was headed by a Secretary. The first Secretary of the Department was Allan Hawke, carrying on his role from the previous Department of Transport and Regional Development. In October 1999, the Prime Minister

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the s ...

announced that Ken Matthews had been appointed as the Department's Secretary, to commence in November of that year. Mike Taylor took over the Secretary role from Matthews in 2004, after indicating to Prime Minister John Howard his strong interest in working in water reform at the

National Water Commission The National Water Commission (NWC) was an independent statutory authority in Australia established by the ''National Water Commission Act 2004'' to implement the National Water Initiative and reform the broader national water agenda. The agency ...

Ministers and parliamentary secretaries

Ministers and parliamentary secretaries associated with the Department included: *

John Anderson John Anderson may refer to: Business *John Anderson (Scottish businessman) (1747–1820), Scottish merchant and founder of Fermoy, Ireland * John Byers Anderson (1817–1897), American educator, military officer and railroad executive, mentor of ...

, Minister for Transport and Regional Services *

Ian Macdonald Ian MacCormick (known by the pseudonym Ian MacDonald; 3 October 1948 – 20 August 2003) was a British music critic and author, best known for both ''Revolution in the Head'', his critical history of the Beatles which borrowed techniques from a ...

, Minister for Regional Services, Territories and Local Government *

Ron Boswell Ronald Leslie Doyle Boswell (born 9 December 1940) is an Australian former politician. He represented the Nationals in the Australian Senate for Queensland from 1983 to 2014 and led the party in the Senate from 1990 to 2007. He became Father ...

, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Transport and Regional Services *

Warren Truss Warren Errol Truss, (born 8 October 1948) is a former Australian politician who served as the 16th Deputy Prime Minister of Australia and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development in the Abbott Government and the Turnbull Governm ...

, Minister for Transport and Regional Services *

Jim Lloyd James Eric Lloyd (born 17 July 1954) is an Australian former politician who served with the Liberal Party of Australia member of the Australian House of Representatives from the March 1996 election until the November 2007 election, representin ...

, Minister for Local Government, Territories and Roads * John Cobb, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Transport and Regional Services

Notes

References and further resources

* * * * * * * * {{Authority control Ministries established in 1998 Transport and Regional Services 2007 disestablishments in Australia 1998 establishments in Australia Defunct transport organisations based in Australia