The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is the department of the Australian federal government responsible for foreign policy and relations, international aid (using the branding Australian Aid), consular services and trade and investment (including trade and investment promotion Austrade). In 2021, DFAT allocated USD 3.4 billion of official development assistance, equivalent to 0.22% of gross national income. The head of the department is 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 ...

, presently Jan Adams. She reports to the

Penny Wong Penelope Ying-Yen Wong (born 5 November 1968) is an Australian politician who has been Minister for Foreign Affairs and Leader of the Government in the Senate in the Albanese Government since 2022. A member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), ...

, the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

History

The department finds its origins in two of the seven original Commonwealth Departments established following

Federation A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-gover ...

in 1901: the Department of Trade and Customs and the

Department of External Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

(DEA), headed by Harry Wollaston and Atlee Hunt respectively. The first DEA was abolished on 14 November 1916 and its responsibilities were undertaken by the

Prime Minister's Department A cabinet department or prime minister's department is a department or other government agency that directly supports the work of the government's central executive office, usually the cabinet and/or prime minister, rather than specific minister ...

and the Department of Home and Territories. It was re-established under the same name on 21 December 1921. Until the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, Australia's status as a

dominion The term ''Dominion'' is used to refer to one of several self-governing nations of the British Empire. "Dominion status" was first accorded to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the Irish Free State at the 1926 ...

of the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

in the then

British Commonwealth The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...

meant its

foreign relations A state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterally or through m ...

were mostly defined by the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

. During this time, Australia's overseas activities were predominantly related to trade and commercial interests, while its external affairs were concerned mostly with immigration, exploration and publicity. The political and economic changes wrought by the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

and Second World War, and the adoption of the 1931 Statute of Westminster (ratified by Australia in 1942), necessitated the establishment and expansion of Australian representation overseas, independent of the British

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

. Australia began to establish its first overseas missions (outside

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

) in 1940, beginning with Washington, D.C., and now has a network of over 80 diplomatic (and 22 trade) posts. The DEA was renamed the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1970. On 24 July 1987, the Department of Foreign Affairs and the

Department of Trade 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 ...

were amalgamated by the Hawke Government to form the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). In

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nels ...

, the Australian Overseas Information Service (AOIS, formerly Australian Information Service) became a branch in DFAT known as the International Public Affairs Branch. In 1996 the branch was dissolved. In 2005, DFAT became embroiled in the

Oil-for-Food Programme The Oil-for-Food Programme (OIP), established by the United Nations in 1995 (under UN Security Council Resolution 986) was established to allow Iraq to sell oil on the world market in exchange for food, medicine, and other humanitarian needs f ...

scandal A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way. Th ...

after it was revealed it had approved the

Australian Wheat Board AWB Limited was a major grain marketing organisation based in Australia. Founded in 1939 by the Government of Australia as the Australian Wheat Board, in 1999 it was sold off by the government, initially to be owned by wheat growers. It was acq ...

's (AWB) request allowing it to pay 'trucking charges' to Alia, a

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

ian trucking company with no actual involvement in the trucking of Australian wheat within

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

. The

Cole Inquiry The Cole Inquiry, formally the Inquiry into certain Australian companies in relation to the UN Oil-For-Food Programme, was a Royal Commission established by the Australian government pursuant to the to investigate "whether decisions, actions, ...

into the AWB was established, however its terms of reference excluded any investigation of the role of DFAT.

Portfolio responsibilities

The functions of the department are broadly classified into the following matters as laid out in an Administrative Arrangements Order issued on 18 September 2013: *External Affairs, including: **relations and communications with overseas governments and

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

agencies **treaties, including trade agreements **bilateral, regional and multilateral trade policy **international trade and commodity negotiations **market development, including market access **trade and international business development **investment promotion **international development co-operation **diplomatic and consular missions **international security issues, including disarmament, arms control and nuclear non-proliferation **public diplomacy, including information and cultural programs *International expositions *Provision to Australian citizens of secure travel identification *Provision of consular services to Australian citizens abroad *Overseas property management, including acquisition, ownership and disposal of real property *Tourism industry (international) * International development and aid *Development and co-ordination of international

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 ...

policy *International climate change negotiations

Portfolio ministers

Four additional ministers support the Minister for Foreign Affairs in administering the Department, : * Minister for Trade and Tourism, Senator Don Farrell * Minister for International Development and the Pacific,

Pat Conroy Donald Patrick Conroy (October 26, 1945 – March 4, 2016) was an American author who wrote several acclaimed novels and memoirs; his books '' The Water is Wide'', '' The Lords of Discipline'', ''The Prince of Tides'' and ''The Great Santini'' w ...

MP * Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs, Tim Watts MP * Assistant Minister for Trade, Senator

Tim Ayres Timothy Ayres (born 18 December 1973) is an Australian politician and trade unionist who was elected as a Senator for New South Wales at the 2019 federal election. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party and was previously a trade union o ...

Secretary of the Department

DFAT is administered by a senior executive, comprising a secretary and five deputy secretaries. On the recommendation of the

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 ...

, the

Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

has appointed the following individuals as Secretary to the department:

Structure

The department is responsible to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, the Minister for International Development and the Pacific, and the Assistant Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment. The department has around 3,300 employees, of whom 1,300 are foreign staff employed by missions directly, and 1,500 are Australian employees based in Australia, and some 500 are diplomats serving overseas.

Departmental structure

*Office of the Secretary **Internal Audit Branch **Strategic Policy, Contestability and Futures Branch **Executive Branch *Global Cooperation, Development and Partnerships Group **Multilateral Policy Division **Development Policy Division **Multilateral Development and Finance Division **Public Diplomacy, Communications & Scholarships Division **Centre for Health Security **Office of Development Effectiveness **Innovation Xchange **Office of the Ambassador for the Environment *International Security, Humanitarian and Consular Group **International Security Division **Consular and Crisis Management Division **Humanitarian, NGOs and Partnerships Division **Legal Division **Middle East and Africa Division **

Australian Safeguards and Non-proliferation Office The Australian Safeguards and Non-proliferation Office (ASNO) was established by the Australian Government to enhance national and international security by contributing to "effective regimes against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction ...

**Office of the Ambassador for Cyber Affairs *Indo-Pacific Group **South-East Asia Division **North Asia Division **Pacific Division **US and Indo-Pacific Strategy Division **South-West Asia Division *Trade, Investment and Business Engagement Group **Office of Trade Negotiations **Investment and Economic Division **Free Trade Agreement Division **Europe and Latin America Division *Services Delivery Group **People Branches **Diplomatic Academy **Finance Branches **Security Branches **Information Management and Technology Division **

Australian Passport Office Australian Passport Office is an independent operating agency of the Government of Australia with bureaucratic oversight provided through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) portfolio. It issues Australian passports to Australian citi ...

**Overseas Property Office **Protocol Branch **Contracting and Aid Management Division

Diplomatic network

The department maintains offices in each state and mainland territory to provide consular and passport services, and to perform an important liaison service for business throughout Australia. In addition, it has a Torres Strait Treaty Liaison Office on

Thursday Island Thursday Island, colloquially known as TI, or in the Kawrareg dialect, Waiben or Waibene, is an island of the Torres Strait Islands, an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait. TI is located approximately north of Cape ...

. Additionally, the department manages a network of over 90 overseas posts, including Australian embassies, high commissions, consulates-general and consulates.

Portfolio agencies

DFAT also manages several agencies within its portfolio, including: * Australian Trade and Investment Commission; * Export Finance and Insurance Corporation; * Australian Secret Intelligence Service; * Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research DFAT also manages foundations, councils and institutes including: * Australia-China Council (ACC) * Australia-India Council (AIC) * Australia-Indonesia Institute (AII) *

Australia International Cultural Council 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 a ...

(AICC) * Australia-Japan Foundation (AJF) * Australia-Korea Foundation (AKF) * Australia-Malaysia Institute (AMI) * Australia-Thailand Institute (ATI) * Council for Australian-Arab Relations (CAAR) *

Council on Australia Latin America Relations A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nat ...

(COALAR)

References

External links

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Website

National Indigenous Times article on Trent Smith
who was dismissed by DFAT then re-employed after lengthy legal proceedings

{{DEFAULTSORT:Department Of Foreign Affairs And Trade Foreign Affairs and Trade Foreign relations of Australia

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 ...

Ministries established in 1987 Trade ministries