Department of Defence (Australia)

Department of Defence
Department overview
Formed 14 April 1942 (1942-04-14)[1]
Preceding agencies
Jurisdiction Commonwealth of Australia
Headquarters Canberra
Employees 65,647
Annual budget A$32.4 billion (2016/2017)[2]
Ministers responsible
Department executive
  • Brendan Sargeant (acting), Secretary of the Department of Defence (SECDEF)
Parent Department Australian Defence Organisation (ADO)
Child agencies
Website www.defence.gov.au
Footnotes
[3]

The Australian Department of Defence is a department of the Government of Australia charged with the responsibility to defend Australia and its national interests. The department forms part of the Australian Defence Organisation (ADO) along with the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The department is accountable to the Commonwealth Parliament, on behalf of the Australian people, for the efficiency and effectiveness with which it carries out the Government's defence policy.

The head of the department, who leads the department on a daily basis, is the Secretary of the Department of Defence (SECDEF), who is currently acting following the retirement of Dennis Richardson AO.

Defence Committee

The Defence Committee is the primary decision-making committee in the Department of Defence, supported by 6 subordinate committees, groups and boards. The Defence Committee is focused on major capability development and resource management for the Australian Defence Organisation and shared accountability of the Secretary and the Chief of the Defence Force.[4]

Membership of the Defence Committee is as follows:

Organisational groups

The Department of Defence consists of ten major organisational groups:[5]

The Australian Defence Force (ADF) consists of the three uniformed armed forces: Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army (Army), Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). There are also joint forces commands including the Joint Operations Command (JOC), Joint Logistics Command, and Joint Health Command.

Diarchy

The Chief of the Defence Force (CDF) and the Secretary of the Department of Defence (SECDEF) jointly manage the Australian Defence Organisation (ADO) under a diarchy in which both report directly to the Minister for Defence and the Assistant Minister for Defence. The ADO diarchy is a governance structure unique in the Australian Public Service.

Secretary of Defence

The Secretary of the Department of Defence (SECDEF) is a senior public service officer and historically the appointees have not come from military service.

Name Date appointment
commenced 		Date appointment
ceased 		Term in office Notes Ref(s)
Collins, Captain Sir MuirheadCaptain Sir Muirhead Collins KCMG, RN 1901 1910 9 years, 0 days Pethebridge was acting Secretary 1906–1910
Pethebridge, Brigadier General Sir SamuelBrigadier General Sir Samuel Pethebridge KCMG 1910 1918 8 years, 0 days Trumble was acting Secretary 1914–1918
Trumble, ThomasThomas Trumble CMG 1918 1927 9 years, 0 days
Shepherd, MalcolmMalcolm Shepherd CMG 1927 1937 10 years, 0 days
Shedden, Sir FrederickSir Frederick Shedden KCMG, OBE 1937 1956 19 years, 301 days
Hicks, Sir EdwinSir Edwin Hicks CBE 28 October 1956 5 January 1968 11 years, 69 days [11]
Bland, Sir HenrySir Henry Bland 1 May 1968 1970 1 year, 361 days [12]
Tange, Sir ArthurSir Arthur Tange AC, CBE March 1970 August 1979 9 years, 92 days [13]
Pritchett, BillBill Pritchett August 1979 6 February 1984 4 years, 189 days [14][15]
Cole, Sir WilliamSir William Cole 6 February 1984 15 October 1986 2 years, 251 days [15]
Woods, AlanAlan Woods AC December 1986 31 July 1988 1 year, 243 days [15]
Ayers, TonyTony Ayers AC 1 August 1988 February 1998 9 years, 184 days [15][16]
Barratt, PaulPaul Barratt AO February 1998 31 August 1999 1 year, 211 days Appointment terminated by the Governor-General on the recommendation of Prime Minister Howard. Barratt fought the decision in the Federal Court, losing on appeal. [17][18]
Hawke, Dr AllanDr Allan Hawke AC 21 October 1999 20 October 2002 2 years, 364 days [15][19][20]
Smith, RicRic Smith AO, PSM 11 November 2002 3 December 2006 4 years, 22 days [15][20][21]
Warner, NickNick Warner AO, PSM 4 December 2006 13 August 2009 2 years, 252 days [15][21][22][23]
Watt, Dr IanDr Ian Watt AO 13 August 2009 5 September 2011 2 years, 23 days [15][22][24]
Lewis, Major General DuncanMajor General Duncan Lewis AO, DSC, CSC 5 September 2011 18 October 2012 1 year, 43 days [15][24][25]
Richardson, DennisDennis Richardson AO 18 October 2012 12 May 2017 4 years, 206 days [25]
Moriarty, GregGreg Moriarty 4 September 2017 −19 days [26]

See also

References

  1. ↑ CA 46: Department of Defence [III], Central Office, National Archives of Australia, retrieved 8 February 2014
  2. ↑ Thomson, Mark. "The no-surprises Defence budget". ASPI Strategist. Australian Strategic Policy Institute. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  3. ↑ "Defence Leaders: Senior Managers". Department of Defence. Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  4. ↑ "Who we are and what we do". Australian Government Department of Defence. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  5. ↑ "Groups: About us". Department of Defence. Australian Government. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  6. ↑ Vice Chief of the Defence Force Group overview, www.defence.gov.au Alternative: http://www.defence.gov.au/VCDF/OrgChart.asp
  7. ↑ Peever, David (April 2015). "First Principles Review: Creating One Defence" (PDF). Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  8. ↑ "Fact Sheet: Smaller Government: Defence Materiel Organisation: Reintegration into the Department of Defence" (MS Word). Department of Defence, Australian Government. May 2015.
  9. ↑ "Stop Press! Name Change" (Press release). 31 July 2015. Archived from the original on 19 September 2015. Retrieved 9 December 2015. As part of the First Principles Review implementation, from 1 July 2015 the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) has been renamed as the Defence Science and Technology Group.
  10. ↑ Intelligence and Security Group, Australian Government Directory
  11. ↑ Farquharson, John (2007). "Hicks, Sir Edwin William (Ted) (1910–1984)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  12. ↑ Farquharson, John. "Bland, Sir Henry (Harry) (1909–1997)". Obituaries Australia. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  13. ↑ James, Lieutenant Colonel Neil (May 2000). "Reform of the Defence Management Paradigm : A Fresh View" (PDF). Working Paper Series. Strategic and Defence Studies Centre: 40. ISBN 0-7317-0441-X. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  14. ↑ NLA Catalogue
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Jennings, Peter; Channer, Hayley (October 2012). "Look Behind You, Mr Richardson". The Strategist. Australian Strategic Policy Institute. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  16. ↑ Hawke, Bob (2 June 1988). "For the media". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (Press release). Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  17. ↑ Colvin, Mark; Reynolds, Fiona (31 August 1999). "Barratt sacked" (transcript). PM. Australia. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  18. ↑ Colvin, Mark; Reynolds, Fiona (10 March 2000). "Barrett loses appeal against dismissal" (transcript). PM. Australia. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  19. ↑ Howard, John (21 October 1999). "New Secretary to the Department of Defence". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (Press release). Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  20. 1 2 Farnsworth, Malcolm (25 September 2002). "Defence Department Head Removed By Government". australianpolitics.com. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  21. 1 2 Howard, John (2 November 2006). "Secretary – Department of Defence". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (Press release). Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  22. 1 2 Rudd, Kevin (13 August 2009). "Departmental secretaries and statutory office-holders, Canberra". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (Press release). Commonwealth of Australia. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  23. ↑ Keane, Bernard (30 March 2009). "Defence is simply too big for Nick Warner". Crikey. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  24. 1 2 Gillard, Julia (4 August 2011). "Departmental Secretaries". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (Press release). Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
  25. 1 2 Gillard, Julia (17 September 2012). "Diplomatic Appointment and Appointment of Secretaries of the Department of Defence and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (Press release). Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
  26. ↑ Turnbull, Malcolm (28 July 2017). "Secretary of the Department of Defence". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (Press release). Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
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