The Australian Department of Communications and the Arts was a department of the Government of Australia charged with responsibility for communications policy and programs and cultural affairs. In December 2019, prime minister Scott Morrison announced that the department would be merged into a new "mega department", the new Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications. In response to criticism from the arts sector, Paul Fletcher, Minister for Communications and the Arts said that the merger was merely administrative and would not result in budget cuts.

History

The department was created in September 2015 following Malcolm Turnbull becoming

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 ...

, replacing the Department of Communications, and transferring responsibility for the arts from the Attorney-General's Department.

Preceding departments

* Postmaster-General's Department (1 January 1901 – 22 December 1975) * Department of the Media (19 December 1972 – 22 December 1975) * Postal and Telecommunications Department (22 December 1975 – 3 November 1980) * Department of Communications (3 November 1980 – 24 July 1987) *

Department of Transport and Communications The Department of Transport and Communications was an Australian government department that existed between July 1987 and December 1993. History The Department of Transport and Communications was one of 16 'super-ministries' announced ...

(24 July 1987 – 23 December 1993) * Department of Communications (23 December 1993 – 30 January 1994) * Department of Communications and the Arts (30 January 1994 – 21 October 1998) *

Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts The Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts (DCITA) was an Australian government department that existed between October 1998 and December 2007. The Department was closed on 3 December 2007 and its authority wa ...

(21 October 1998 – 3 December 2007) * Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy (3 December 2007 – 18 September 2013) * Department of Communications (18 September 2013 – 21 September 2015)

Operational functions

The Administrative Arrangements Order made on 21 September 2015 detailed the following responsibilities to the department: * Broadband policy and programs * Postal and telecommunications policies and programs * Spectrum policy management * Broadcasting policy * National policy issues relating to the digital economy * Content policy relating to the information economy * Classification * Copyright * Cultural affairs, including movable cultural heritage and support for the arts ** As part of this function, the department administers a programme relating to the return of

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait I ...

human remains and

cultural objects Cultural heritage is the heritage of tangible and intangible heritage assets of a group or society that is inherited from past generations. Not all heritages of past generations are "heritage"; rather, heritage is a product of selection by soci ...

, the International Repatriation Program (IRP). This programme "supports the repatriation of ancestral remains and secret sacred objects to their communities of origin to help promote healing and reconciliation" and assists community representatives work towards repatriation of remains in various ways.

Language revival project

, the Department is funding the Priority Languages Support Project, being undertaken by First Languages Australia. The project aims to "identify and document critically-endangered languages – those languages for which little or no documentation exists, where no recordings have previously been made, but where there are living speakers". It has so far prioritised 20 languages

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Department Of Communications (Australia) Australia, Communications and the Arts

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 ...