The Department of Defence 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 ...
department that was established at
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-govern ...
and existed until 1921 when it was replaced with the
subsequent Department of Defence.
Scope
Information about the department's functions and/or government funding allocation could be found in the
Administrative Arrangements Orders (AAOs).
In early AAOs, the department was responsible for Naval and Military defence and control of railway transport for defence.
Structure
The Department was a
Commonwealth 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 ...
department, staffed by officials who were responsible to the Minister for Defence.
The Secretaries of the Department were
Muirhead Collins (1901–1910),
Samuel Pethebridge (1910–1918) and
Thomas Trumble (1918‑1921).
Pethebridge was actually Acting in the Secretary role since 1906,
he died in 1918 while in office as permanent departmental Secretary.
References
Ministries established in 1901
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 indust ...
1921 disestablishments in Australia
1901 establishments in Australia
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