The Department of the Environment and Energy (DEE) 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, ...

in existence between 2016 and 2020. The department was responsible for matters including environment protection and conservation of biodiversity as well as

energy policy Energy policy is the manner in which a given entity (often governmental) has decided to address issues of energy development including energy conversion, distribution and use as well as reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in order to contri ...

. It was established in July 2016 by the Turnbull Government after the 2016 federal election. Following the appointment of

Scott Morrison Scott John Morrison (; born 13 May 1968) is an Australian politician. He served as the 30th prime minister of Australia and as Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia from 2018 to 2022, and is currently the member of parliament (MP) for t ...

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Josh Frydenberg Joshua Anthony Frydenberg () (born 17 July 1971) is an Australian former politician who served as the treasurer of Australia and deputy leader of the Liberal Party from 2018 to 2022. He also served as a member of parliament (MP) for the divisio ...

was elevated to

Treasurer of Australia The Treasurer of Australia (or Federal Treasurer) is a high ranking official and senior minister of the Crown in the Government of Australia who is the head of the Ministry of the Treasury which is responsible for government expenditure and ...

, whereby Frydenberg's previous ministerial positions were separated, with Melissa Price as

Minister of the Environment An environment minister (sometimes minister of the environment or secretary of the environment) is a cabinet position charged with protecting the natural environment and promoting wildlife conservation. The areas associated with the duties of an ...

and Angus Taylor as Minister for Energy. Price was reshuffled from her position in 2019, and was replaced by

Sussan Ley Sussan Penelope Ley (pron. , "Susan Lee"; ; born 14 December 1961) is an Australian politician who has been deputy leader of the Liberal Party since May 2022. She has been member of parliament (MP) for the New South Wales seat of Farrer since 2 ...

. By an administrative order issued on 5 December 2019 and effective from 1 February 2020, the environment functions of the department were merged with all functions of the Department of Agriculture, to form the

Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment The Australian Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (DAWE) was an Australian Government department which operated from 1 February 2020 until 30 June 2022. It represented Australia's national interests in agriculture, water and th ...

. The department's energy functions were transferred to the

Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources The Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources was a government department, department of the Government of Australia, Australian Government responsible for consolidating the Government’s efforts to drive economic growth, productivit ...

Scope

The Administrative Arrangements Orders listed the department's responsibilities as follows: *Administration of the Australian Antarctic Territory, and the Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands *Air quality *

Climate change adaptation Climate change adaptation is the process of adjusting to current or expected effects of climate change.IPCC, 2022Annex II: Glossary öller, V., R. van Diemen, J.B.R. Matthews, C. Méndez, S. Semenov, J.S. Fuglestvedt, A. Reisinger (eds.) InClimat ...

strategy and co-ordination *Community and household climate action *Co-ordination of climate change science activities *Co-ordination of sustainable communities policy *Development and co-ordination of domestic climate change policy *Energy efficiency *Energy policy *Environment protection and conservation of biodiversity *Environmental information and research *Environmental water use and resources relating to the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder *

Greenhouse emissions Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and la ...

and energy consumption reporting *Greenhouse gas abatement programs *Industrial energy efficiency *Ionospheric prediction *Land contamination *Meteorology *National energy market, including electricity and gas *National fuel quality standards *Natural, built and cultural heritage *Renewable energy *Renewable energy target policy, regulation and co-ordination *Renewable energy technology development *Urban environment

Structure

The head of the department was its

Secretary A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...

Finn Pratt Finn Axel Pratt (born 1960) is a retired senior Australian public servant. He was most recently Secretary of the Department of the Environment and Energy. Life and career Pratt has a Bachelor of Arts from the Australian National University. H ...

, responsible to the

Minister for the Environment and Energy The Australian Minister for the Environment and Water is a position which is currently held by Tanya Plibersek in the Albanese ministry since 1 June 2022, following the Australian federal election in 2022. In the Government of Australia, the ...

, the Hon. Melissa Price until 2019, and then the Hon.

. The department was staffed by individuals from the

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 ...

Online databases and apps

, the DEE website also hosted the

Australasian Underwater Cultural Heritage Database __NOTOC__ The Australasian Underwater Cultural Heritage Database (AUCHD) is an online, searchable database containing data on shipwrecks, aircraft that have been submerged underwater or wrecked on the shore, and other artefacts of cultural sign ...

(AUCHD), a searchable online

database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases sp ...

containing data about

shipwrecks A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. Shipwrecking may be intentional or unintentional. Angela Croome reported in January 1999 that there were approximately ...

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines ...

and other cultural heritage artefacts which are or have been underwater. The AUCHD also served as the register of protected underwater cultural heritage for the ''

Underwater Cultural Heritage Act 2018 The ''Underwater Cultural Heritage Act 2018'' is an Australian Act of Parliament designed "to protect shipwrecks, sunken aircraft and their associated artefacts, that occurred 75 or more years ago, regardless of whether their location is known ...

'' (the UCH Act), providing a means whereby the public could submit notifications and permit applications required under the Act. The website also hosted a number of other databases and applications in the areas of

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

heritage Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset is a preexisting thing of value today ** Cultural heritage is created by humans ** Natural heritage is not * Heritage language Biology * Heredity, biological inheritance of physical c ...

, the ''

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 The ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and cultu ...

'' (EPBC Act),

environmental protection Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment by individuals, organizations and governments. Its objectives are to conserve natural resources and the existing natural environment and, where possible, to repair dam ...

, land and water, as well as photo galleries of Australian plants, and environmental and cultural heritage subjects.

References

External links

Environment and Energy Environment and Energy 2016 establishments in Australia Ministries disestablished in 2020 2020 disestablishments in Australia Environment of Australia Energy in Australia {{Australia-gov-stub

Scope

Structure

Online databases and apps

See also

References

External links