The Department of Transport and Planning (DTP) is a

government department Ministry or department (also less commonly used secretariat, office, or directorate) are designations used by first-level Executive (government), executive bodies in the Machinery of government, machinery of governments that manage a specific se ...

Victoria, Australia Victoria, commonly abbreviated as Vic, is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state (after Tasmania), with a land area of ; the second-most-populated state (after New South Wales), with a population of over 7 million; ...

. Commencing operation on 1 January 2019 as the Department of Transport (DOT), the DOT was formed in

machinery of government The machinery of government (sometimes abbreviated as MoG) is the interconnected structures and processes of government, such as the functions and accountability of departments in the executive branch of government. The term is used particul ...

changes made by

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

Daniel Andrews Daniel Michael Andrews (born 6 July 1972) is an Australian former politician who served as the 48th premier of Victoria from 2014 to 2023. He held office as the leader of the Victorian branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 2010 and ...

after the re-election of his

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

government at the

2018 Victorian state election The 2018 Victorian state election was held on Saturday, 24 November 2018 to elect the 59th Parliament of Victoria. All 88 seats in the Legislative Assembly (lower house) and all 40 seats in the Legislative Council (upper house) were up for elect ...

. The re-shuffle saw the "super-ministry"

Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources The Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources (DEDJTR) is a former department of the Government of Victoria. It was created on 1 January 2015 by the government of Premier Daniel Andrews when the number of government depa ...

abolished and its functions reassigned to the DOT and

Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions The Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions (DJPR) was a department in Victoria, Australia. Commencing operation on 1 January 2019, the DJPR supported six ministers across 10 portfolios, broadly related to economic development. Along with t ...

. The department is responsible for ongoing operation and coordination of the state's transport networks, as well as the delivery of new and upgraded transport infrastructure. It also absorbed most functions of

VicRoads VicRoads is a government joint venture in the state of Victoria, Australia. In the state, it is responsible for driver licensing and vehicle registration. It is owned and operated through a joint venture between the Victorian government an ...

and

Public Transport Victoria Public Transport Victoria (PTV) is the brand name for public transport in the Australian state of Victoria. It was previously the trading name of the Public Transport Development Authority (PTDA), a now-defunct statutory authority in Victo ...

on 1 July 2019. On 1 January 2023, after the

2022 Victorian state election The 2022 Victorian state election was held on Saturday, 26 November 2022 to elect the 60th Parliament of Victoria. All 88 seats in the Victorian Legislative Assembly, Legislative Assembly (lower house) and all 40 seats in the Victorian Legislat ...

, the department absorbed the planning functions of

Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) was a government department in Victoria, Australia. Commencing operation in January 2015, the DELWP was created in the aftermath of the 2014 state election, with Premier Daniel And ...

and was renamed to its current name. The DTP supports three ministers in the first Allan ministry, holding three ministerial portfolios: Minister for Ports and Freight and Minister for Roads and Road Safety

Melissa Horne Melissa Margaret Horne is an Australian politician. She has been a Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the states and territories of Australia, state lower house of the bicameral Pa ...

, Minister for Public and Active Transport

Gabrielle Williams Gabrielle Leigh Williams (born 27 October 1982) is an Australian politician. She has been a Australian Labor Party (Victorian Branch), Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly since November 2014, representing the electorate of ...

, Minister for Planning

Sonya Kilkenny Sonya Kilkenny (born 15 May 1969) is an Australian politician. She has been a Australian Labor Party (Victorian Branch), Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly since November 2014, representing the Electoral district of Carrum. ...

History

Background

Transport in Victoria has been managed by various government departments across different ministries. Following each state election, the

issues a Machinery of Government instrument, outlining how government responsibilities will be overseen by ministers and the organisation of the bureaucracy. The first Victorian government agency with a unified approach to transport planning was the

Ministry of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

, formed in 1951 as the earliest precursor to the current DOT. Renamed as the 'Department of Transport' in 1996, the agency underwent numerous changes in organisational structure. Transport responsibilities were merged under the Department of Infrastructure under the Kennett Government until the second incarnation of the

Department of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

was formed in 2008. The department was replaced by

Department of Transport, Planning and Local Infrastructure 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 April 2013, and then the

in January 2015. Further changes were announced with the establishment of

Transport for Victoria Transport for Victoria is a statutory office of the Department of Transport and Planning that is responsible for the planning and coordination of all transport systems in Victoria, Australia. It acts as an umbrella agency for Public Transport V ...

in June 2016 to provide a "new central transport agency to coordinate Victoria's growing transport system and plan for its future".

Establishment

After the November 2018 re-election of the Andrews government,

changes divided the functions of the Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources into two new departments. The Department of Transport absorbed all of the former department's transport functions.

Jacinta Allan Jacinta Marie Allan (born 19 September 1973) is an Australian politician serving as the 49th and current premier of Victoria since 2023. She has been the leader of the Victorian branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) since 2023 and has been ...

, who had been public transport minister in the previous structure, was promoted to a new role of Minister for Transport Infrastructure to lead the new department's focus on major road and rail projects. The new department was formally established on 1 January 2019, with Paul Younis as acting Secretary. On 26 March, he was confirmed as a permanent appointment to the position. As Secretary, Younis also held the position of acting Head,

, an office established under section 64A of the ''

Transport Integration Act 2010 The Transport Integration Act 2010 (the Act) is a law enacted by the Parliament of the State of Victoria, Australia. The Act is the prime transport statute in Victoria, having replaced major parts of the '' Transport Act 1983'', which was ren ...

''. In the days following Younis' permanent appointment, the government announced a major restructure of its transport agencies, with statutory authorities

and

to be abolished as independent entities and incorporated into the Department of Transport. Government ministers claimed that the merger was a more modern approach to integrated transport planning; however, media reports and the state Opposition suggested that the changes were an attempt to reduce transparency and obscure cost overruns on major projects. The move received support from the

Rail, Tram and Bus Union The Australian Rail Tram and Bus Industry Union (RTBU) is an Australian trade union representing rail, tram and bus workers. The RTBU is affiliated with the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) and the Australian Labor Party (ALP). Interna ...

, but was opposed by the

Australian Services Union The Australian Services Union (formally registered as the Australian Municipal, Administrative, Clerical and Services Union) is a trade union representing workers in a variety of industries. The ASU is affiliated with the Australian Council ...

, representing many VicRoads staff. The

Public Transport Users Association The Public Transport Users Association (PTUA) is a community-based public transport lobby group in Victoria, Australia, based in Melbourne. It is run entirely by volunteers and has no full-time staff. History and aims The organisation was fou ...

offered its cautious support for the changes, saying that although integration of planning functions was a positive, the merger risked creating an entrenched and inaccessible bureaucracy. The restructure took effect on 1 July 2019. All functions of the PTV and VicRoads were transferred to the Department of Transport, with the exception of VicRoad's registration and licensing functions and some heavy vehicle functions.

Planning functions

After the Andrews government was re-elected at the

, the planning functions of the

were merged into the DOT on 1 January 2023, and the department was renamed to the Department of Transport and Planning.

Ministers

, the DTP supports four ministers in the following portfolios:

Functions

The DTP had responsibility for the following policy areas: *

Public transport Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whic ...

, including: ** Metropolitan trains **

Trams A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

Buses A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...

** Regional transport *

Roads A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. The ...

* Taxi industry and other commercial passenger vehicles * Maritime affairs *

Transport infrastructure Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land ( rail and road), water, cable, pipelines ...

Road safety Road traffic safety refers to the methods and measures, such as traffic calming, to prevent road users from being killed or seriously injured. Typical road users include pedestrians, cyclists, Driving, motorists, passengers of vehicles, and p ...

* Walking and cycling *

Planning Planning is the process of thinking regarding the activities required to achieve a desired goal. Planning is based on foresight, the fundamental capacity for mental time travel. Some researchers regard the evolution of forethought - the cap ...

(since January 2023) *

Property Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, re ...

and

land titles Land registration is any of various systems by which matters concerning ownership, possession, or other rights in land are formally recorded (usually with a government agency or department) to provide evidence of title, facilitate transactions, ...

(since January 2023)

Agencies

Sector transport agencies

Public Transport Development Authority was also an agency of DOT until its abolition in July 2019. Road Safety Victoria was formed in August 2019.

Victorian Infrastructure Delivery Authority

The Major Transport Infrastructure Authority (MTIA) was established on 1 January 2019 as an administrative office of the DOT, replacing the former independent administrative offices governing various infrastructure projects. It is led by Director-General Kevin Devlin who is responsible to the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, Danny Pearson. MTIA was declared a transport body under the ''

'' in August 2019. On 2 April 2024, the MTIA merged with Victorian Health Building Authority (VHBA) to form Victorian Infrastructure Delivery Authority (VIDA) and includes health infrastructure such as hospitals in its scope. Project teams within the VIDA (and previously MITA) are: *

Level Crossing Removal Project The Level Crossing Removal Project (LXRP) is an infrastructure upgrade project by the Government of Victoria, Australia, to remove and grade-separate 110 level crossings and to rebuild 51 railway stations on the metropolitan and regional r ...

– formerly Level Crossing Removal Authority before 2019 **The project team also includes the

Regional Rail Revival The Regional Rail Revival is a joint initiative between the Australian federal government and the Victorian state government to upgrade all regional railway lines in Victoria. The project has an estimated total cost of . of the project's tota ...

and Melbourne Airport Rail, which were previously part of Rail Projects Victoria (RPV) until April 2024 *Major Road Projects Victoria – formerly Major Road Projects Authority before 2019 ** The project team also includes the North East Link Project and West Gate Tunnel Project, which were their own project teams within MITA until 2023. Both former project teams were previously North East Link Authority, Western Distributor Authority and West Gate Tunnel Authority before 2019 *Metro Tunnel Project – formerly Rail Projects Victoria until April 2024 and previously Melbourne Metro Rail Authority before 2019 *Victorian Health Building Authority – previously its own independent authority until formation of VIDA

Suburban Rail Loop Authority

The Suburban Rail Loop Authority (SRLA) was established in September 2019 as an administrative office of the DOT. It coordinates and plans the delivery of

Suburban Rail Loop The Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) is a rapid transit system currently under construction in Melbourne, the capital of Victoria (Australia), Victoria and second largest city of Australia. The system is divided into four distinct sections. The two ma ...

. The authority became an independent statutory authority on 1 December 2021.

References

External links

Department of Transport and Planning websiteVictoria's Big Build – Major Transport Infrastructure Authority website
{{Road authorities in Australia

Transport Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

Transport in Victoria (state) Ministries established in 2019 2019 establishments in Australia

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...