The Department of Finance is a department of the

Government of Australia 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 Governmen ...

that is charged with the responsibility of assisting the government across a wide range of policy areas to ensure its outcomes are met, particularly with regard to expenditure, financial management, and the operations of government. The administrative head of the department is the

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 ...

of the Department of Finance, presently Rosemary Huxtable, who reports to the Federal Minister for Finance, presently Senator

Katy Gallagher Katherine Ruth Gallagher (born 18 March 1970) is an Australian politician who has been serving as the Minister for Finance, Minister for Women, Minister for the Public Service and Vice-President of the Executive Council in the Albanese Gover ...

. Unlike in many countries, Australia's Department of Finance does not deal with general economic policy, which is the responsibility of the Department of the Treasury. The

Treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury ...

has a wider range of powers and responsibilities than the Minister for Finance, who has a comparatively narrower portfolio. The head office of the department is located at One Canberra Avenue, in the

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

suburb of Forrest. Formerly, it was located in the John Gorton Building, named after Australia's prime minister between 1968 and 1971.

History

The Department of Finance was formed by way of an Administrative Arrangements Order issued on 18 September 2013 and replaced the functions previously performed by the former Department of Finance and Deregulation. In an earlier reconstruction, the department was called the Department of Finance and Administration.

Preceding departments

* Department of Finance (7 December 1976 – 9 October 1997) * Department of Administrative Services (30 January 1994 – 9 October 1997) *

Department of Finance and Administration The Department of Finance and Administration (also called DOFA) was an Australian government department tasked to contribute to sustainable Government finances; improved and more efficient Government operations; and efficiently functioning Parli ...

(9 October 1997 – 3 December 2007) *

Department of Finance and Deregulation The Australian Department of Finance and Deregulation was a Federal Government department that existed between December 2007 and September 2013. Its role was to help the Australian Government achieve its policy objectives by contributin ...

(3 December 2007 – 18 September 2013)

Operational activities

In the 18 September 2013 Administrative Arrangements Order, the functions of the department were broadly classified into the following matters: * Budget policy advice and process, and review of governmental programs * Government financial accountability, governance and financial management frameworks, including grants and procurement policy and services * Shareholder advice on Government Business Enterprises (GBEs) and commercial entities treated as GBEs * General policy guidelines for Commonwealth statutory authorities * Superannuation arrangements for Australian Government civilian employees and members of parliament and retirement benefits for Federal Judges and Governors-General * Asset sales * Commonwealth property policy framework, legislation and policy for the management of property leased or owned by the Commonwealth, including acquisition, disposal and management of property interests * Management of non-

Defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indus ...

Commonwealth property in Australia, including construction, major refurbishment, sustainability, acquisition, ownership and disposal of real property * Electoral matters (through the

Australian Electoral Commission The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is the independent federal agency in charge of organising, conducting and supervising federal Australian elections, by-elections and referendums. Responsibilities The AEC's main responsibility is to ...

) * Administration of the Australian Government’s self-managed general insurance fund (Comcover) * Government on-line delivery and information technology and communications management * Policy advice on the

Future Fund The Future Fund is an independently managed sovereign wealth fund established in 2006 to strengthen the Australian Government's long-term financial position by making provision for unfunded superannuation liabilities for politicians and other pu ...

and Nation-building Funds and authorisation of payments from the Nation-building Funds to Agencies * Co-ordination of Government Advertising * Official Establishments, ownership and property management of the Prime Minister's official residences

References

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Finance Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of f ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

Australia, Finance 2013 establishments in Australia Government finances in Australia

History

Preceding departments

Operational activities

See also

References