The Minister for Immigration and Citizenship is a ministerial post of the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the pr ...

and is currently held by

Tony Burke Anthony Stephen Burke (born 4 November 1969) is an Australian politician serving as Leader of the House, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for the Arts. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), and has served as member of ...

since July 2024 in the

Albanese ministry Albanese ministry may refer to: *First Albanese ministry (2022–2025), the 73rd ministry of the Government of Australia *Second Albanese ministry The second Albanese ministry is the 74th ministry of the Australian Government, Government of A ...

. The post was created in 1945 and its inaugural officeholder was

Arthur Calwell Arthur Augustus Calwell King's Counsel, KC (28 August 1896 – 8 July 1973) was an Australian politician who served as the leader of the Australian Labor Party, Labor Party from 1960 to 1967. He led the party through three federal elections, l ...

as the Minister for Immigration. On 20 December 2017,

Prime Minister A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party an ...

introduced a new major portfolio responsible for national security:

Home Affairs An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a Ministry (government department), government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law e ...

. The

Hon Hon or HON may refer to: People Given name * Cho Hŏn (1544–1592), Joseon militia leader * Ho Hon (1885–1951), North Korean politician Surname * Han (surname) (Chinese: 韩/韓), also romanized Hon * Louis Hon (1924–2008), French fo ...

Peter Dutton Peter Craig Dutton (born 18 November 1970) is an Australian former politician who served as the Leader of the Opposition (Australia), Leader of the Opposition and the Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party from 2 ...

retained the duties of Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, with additional responsibilities awarded as the Minister for Home Affairs. Following the appointment of

Scott Morrison Scott John Morrison (born 13 May 1968) is an Australian former politician who served as the 30th prime minister of Australia from 2018 to 2022. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party and was ...

in August 2018, Morrison re-appointed Peter Dutton to the Home Affairs Ministry, previously introduced to the 'super-Ministry' under the

Turnbull government The Turnbull government was the federal executive government of Australia led by the 29th prime minister of Australia, Malcolm Turnbull, from 2015 to 2018. It succeeded the Abbott government, which brought the Coalition to power at the 2013 Au ...

in December 2017, and appointed

David Coleman David Robert Coleman (26 April 1926 – 21 December 2013) was a British sports commentator and television presenter who worked for the BBC for 46 years. He covered eleven Summer Olympic Games from 1960 to 2000 and six FIFA World Cups from 196 ...

as Immigration Minister.

Scope

The portfolio and department were created in July 1945, during the last months of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Previously, immigration affairs were handled by the Minister for Home Affairs (1901–1932) and the Minister for the Interior (1932–1945), except that between January 1925 and January 1928

Victor Wilson Sir Reginald Victor Wilson KBE (30 June 1877 – 13 July 1957) was an Australian politician and businessman. He served a single term as a Senator for South Australia (1920–1926) and was an honorary minister (1923–1925) and Minister for Ma ...

and

Thomas Paterson Thomas Paterson (20 November 1882 – 24 January 1952) was an Australian politician who served as deputy leader of the Country Party from 1929 to 1937. He held ministerial office in the governments of Stanley Bruce and Joseph Lyons, represent ...

were Ministers for Markets and Migration. The Minister for Immigration, Multicultural Affairs and Citizenship was usually one of the senior members of Cabinet, although between the Tenth Menzies Ministry and the Third Fraser Ministry, the post was downgraded to that of a junior minister. The minister and department have on several occasions been responsible for another portfolio in addition to immigration, such as ethnic/multicultural affairs, local government or border protection.

List of ministers for immigration

The following individuals have held responsibility for immigration: Notes : Barnard was one of a two-man ministry consisting of himself and

Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from December 1972 to November 1975. To date the longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), he was notable for being ...

for two weeks until the full ministry was announced.

List of ministers for citizenship

The following individuals have held responsibility for citizenship or any precedent titles:

Assistant ministers

Assistant ministers for immigration

The following individuals served as the Assistant Minister for Immigration, or any precedent titles:

Assistant ministers for citizenship and multicultural affairs

The following individuals served as the Assistant Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, or any precedent titles:

References

External links

* {{Australian federal ministerial portfolios Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs Immigration to Australia

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Multiculturalism in Australia