Formed 20 February 1968 Headquarters Canberra | Dissolved 30 November 1973 | |
Preceding Department Department of Territories (I) Superseding agency Department of Foreign Affairs - for residual responsibilities relating to Papua New Guinea Jurisdiction Commonwealth of Australia | ||
The Department of External Territories was an Australian government department that existed between February 1968 and November 1973. It was the second Australian Government department to be given the name.
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History and scope
The Department of External Territories was established by the Gorton Government in 1968, formed from the portions of the old Department of Territories (I) that dealt with Papua New Guinea and Australia's smaller external territories and hiving off the portions of the department that dealt with Northern Territory.
According to the Administrative Arrangements Order made on 20 December 1972, the Department dealt with matters related to the Territory of Papua, the Territory of New Guinea, the Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands and the Territory of Christmas Island.
Structure
The Department was an Australian Public Service department, staffed by officials who were responsible to the Minister for External Territories.