The Department of Treasury and Finance (DTF), often informally referred to as the Treasury, is a government department in

Victoria, Australia Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populated state (after New South Wales) with a population of over 6.5 million, and the most densely populated state in Au ...

. One of Victoria's oldest public institutions, the Treasury has existed in various forms throughout Victorian history. It is currently responsible for the state's economic and fiscal policy, taxation and delivery of the budget.

History

The Department of Treasury and Finance can trace its origins to the earliest days of the settlement that became the

State of Victoria Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populated state (after New South Wales) with a population of over 6.5 million, and the most densely populated state in Au ...

. The department is one of Victoria’s oldest institutions, predating the

Parliament of Victoria The Parliament of Victoria is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Victoria that follows a Westminster-derived parliamentary system. It consists of the King, represented by the Governor of Victoria, the Legislative Assembly and ...

by more than a decade. As well as being involved in collecting

revenue In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of goods and services related to the primary operations of the business. Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some companies receive reven ...

from land sales and

customs duty A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and polic ...

, the treasury became the principal agency responsible for the sale and safe storage of gold extracted from Victoria’s mines in the second half of the nineteenth century (see

Victorian Gold Rush The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. It led to a period of extreme prosperity for the Australian colony, and an influx of population growth and financial capita ...

). The building of the treasury (now known as 'the old treasury building'), along with other civic offices like the Parliament, Customs House, and Post Office, was a reaction by authorities who wanted to display state power in Melbourne because of fears of public disorder following the gold rush.

Buildings

The Department of Treasury and Finance performs its operations in two main buildings: * 1 Treasury Place * 1 Macarthur Street Barry Patten designed 1 Treasury Place and built it in the 1960s according to the Internationalist style of architecture. The building is also on the Victorian Heritage Register. Since a

skyway A skyway, skybridge, skywalk, or sky walkway is an elevated type of pedway connecting two or more buildings in an urban area, or connecting elevated points within mountainous recreational zones. Urban skyways very often take the form of enclos ...

connects 1 Treasury Place to 1 Macarthur Street, both are often considered to be part of the same building. The whole area linking Parliament House, St. Patrick's Cathedral,

Fitzroy Gardens The Fitzroy Gardens are 26 hectares (64 acres) located on the southeastern edge of the Melbourne central business district in East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The gardens are bounded by Clarendon Street, Albert Street, Lansdowne Street, and ...

, and

Treasury Gardens The Treasury Gardens consist of on the south-eastern side of the Melbourne central business district, East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The gardens are bounded by Wellington Parade, Spring Street, Melbourne, Spring Street, Treasury Place ...

is called the Treasury Reserve, a heritage-listed precinct. Before 1878, the Victorian Treasury was situated at the corner of Spring Street and Macarthur Street. When the state treasurer and his officers moved to Treasury Place, the old building was renamed the Old Treasury. Old Treasury was widely regarded as the finest 19th century public building in Australia. Upstairs in the building, Treasury officials kept the colony’s accounts. Below, in the basement, were bluestone vaults for storing the

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

sent by government escort from the goldmining fields.

Ministers

, the DTF supports two ministers in the following portfolio areas:

Functions

The DTF has responsibility for the following policy areas: *

Economic policy The economy of governments covers the systems for setting levels of taxation, government budgets, the money supply and interest rates as well as the labour market, national ownership, and many other areas of government interventions into the e ...

Fiscal policy In economics and political science, fiscal policy is the use of government revenue collection (taxes or tax cuts) and expenditure to influence a country's economy. The use of government revenue expenditures to influence macroeconomic variables ...

* Revenue policy, including

stamp duty Stamp duty is a tax that is levied on single property purchases or documents (including, historically, the majority of legal documents such as cheques, receipts, military commissions, marriage licences and land transactions). A physical revenu ...

payroll tax Payroll taxes are taxes imposed on employers or employees, and are usually calculated as a percentage of the salaries that employers pay their employees. By law, some payroll taxes are the responsibility of the employee and others fall on the em ...

and land tax * Appropriations and budget delivery * State borrowing,

investment Investment is the dedication of money to purchase of an asset to attain an increase in value over a period of time. Investment requires a sacrifice of some present asset, such as time, money, or effort. In finance, the purpose of investing i ...

and financial arrangements * Financial reporting and accountability

Notes

{{Authority control

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in p ...

State government finances in Australia