Department of the Special Minister of State (1972–1975)

Department of the Special Minister of State
Department overview
Formed	19 December 1972
Preceding Department	Department of the Environment, Aborigines and the Arts – for electoral activities, overseas visits, government gazette;
Dissolved	22 December 1975
Superseding Department	Department of Health (I) – for health services on Christmas and Cocos Islands; Department of Business and Consumer Affairs – for industries assistance and prices justification; Department of Administrative Services (II); Department of Education (I) – for education on Christmas and Cocos Islands;
Jurisdiction	Commonwealth of Australia
Ministers responsible	Don Willesee, Minister (1972–1973); Lionel Bowen, Minister (1973–1975); Doug McClelland, Minister (1975); Reg Withers, Minister (1975);
Department executives	John Bunting, Acting Secretary (1972–1973); Peter Lawler, Secretary (1973–1975);

The Department of the Special Minister of State was an Australian government department that existed between December 1972 and December 1975.

History

The Department was one of several new Departments established by the Whitlam government, a wide restructuring that revealed some of the new government's program.^[2]

Scope

Information about the department's functions and government funding allocation could be found in the Administrative Arrangements Orders, the annual Portfolio Budget Statements and in the Department's annual reports.

The functions of the Department at its creation were:^[1]

National Archives
National Library
Royal Charters
War Graves
Grants to National organisations
World Expositions
Commonwealth Gazette and Commonwealth Directory

Structure

The Department was a Commonwealth Public Service department, staffed by officials who were responsible to the Special Minister of State.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d CA 1490: Department of the Special Minister of State [I], Central Office, National Archives of Australia, retrieved 9 February 2021
^ National Archives of Australia, Gough Whitlam: In Office, National Archives of Australia, archived from the original on 19 April 2013

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[NAA_CA_1490-1] CA 1490: Department of the Special Minister of State [I], Central Office, National Archives of Australia, retrieved 9 February 2021

[InOffice-2] National Archives of Australia, Gough Whitlam: In Office, National Archives of Australia, archived from the original on 19 April 2013

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Department overview
Formed	19 December 1972^[1]
Preceding Department	Department of the Environment, Aborigines and the Arts – for electoral activities, overseas visits, government gazette
Dissolved	22 December 1975^[1]
Superseding Department	Department of Health (I) – for health services on Christmas and Cocos Islands Department of Business and Consumer Affairs – for industries assistance and prices justification Department of Administrative Services (II) Department of Education (I) – for education on Christmas and Cocos Islands
Jurisdiction	Commonwealth of Australia
Ministers responsible	Don Willesee, Minister (1972–1973) Lionel Bowen, Minister (1973–1975) Doug McClelland, Minister (1975) Reg Withers, Minister (1975)
Department executives	John Bunting, Acting Secretary (1972–1973) Peter Lawler, Secretary (1973–1975)