Department of Environment and Conservation (Australia)

This article is about the Australian Government Department of Environment and Conservation, that existed between 1972 and 1975. For the Western Australian Government Department of Environment and Conservation, see Department of Environment and Conservation (Western Australia).
Department of Environment and Conservation
Department overview
Formed 19 December 1972[1]
Preceding Department

Department of the Environment, Aborigines and the Arts

Department of National Development (I)
Dissolved 21 April 1975[1]
Superseding agency

Department of Housing and Construction (I)

Department of the Environment (I)
Jurisdiction Commonwealth of Australia
Headquarters Canberra
Minister responsible Moss Cass, Minister
Department executives Lenox Hewitt, Secretary (1972‑73)
Don McMichael, Secretary (1973‑75)

The Department of Environment and Conservation was an Australian government department that existed between December 1972 and April 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]

The Department was abolished in April 1975, to be replaced by the Department of the Environment. At the time, Prime Minister Gough Whitlam said that the reason for the re‑badging was that that the name 'Department of Environment and Conservation' suggested that conservation was a separate matter from the environment, whereas it was in fact a major component of the Government's total environment program.[3][4]

Scope

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

According to the Administrative Arrangements Order issued 19 December 1972, at its creation, the Department was responsible for activities related to:[5]

Structure

The Department was an Australian Public Service department, staffed by officials who were responsible to the Minister for Environment and Conservation.[1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 CA 1479: Department of Environment and Conservation, Central Office, National Archives of Australia, retrieved 21 December 2013
  2. ↑ National Archives of Australia, Gough Whitlam: In Office, National Archives of Australia, archived from the original on 19 April 2013
  3. ↑ CA 1869: Department of the Environment [I], Central Office, National Archives of Australia, retrieved 29 December 2013
  4. ↑ Whitlam, Gough (21 April 1975). "Department of Environment" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 28 December 2013.
  5. ↑ Administrative Arrangements Order of 19 December 1972, National Archives of Australia, 19 December 1972, archived from the original on 26 April 2013