Formed 19 December 1972 Headquarters Canberra | Dissolved 21 April 1975 | |
Preceding Department Department of the Environment, Aborigines and the Arts
Department of National Development (I) Superseding agency Department of Housing and Construction (I)
Department of the Environment (I) Jurisdiction Commonwealth of Australia | ||
The Department of Environment and Conservation was an Australian government department that existed between December 1972 and April 1975.
Contents
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.
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 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.
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:
Structure
The Department was an Australian Public Service department, staffed by officials who were responsible to the Minister for Environment and Conservation.