Formed 11 June 1940 Headquarters Melbourne | Dissolved 6 April 1948 | |
Preceding Department Department of Supply and Development (I) - for Commonwealth factories and aircraft production Superseding agency Department of Supply and Development (II) Jurisdiction Commonwealth of Australia | ||
The Department of Munitions was an Australian government department that existed between June 1940 and April 1948.
Contents
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.
The Department was created during World War II in an effort to speed up munitions production.
In April 1948 the department was wound up and its functions shifted to the Department of Supply and Development, a change necessitated due to the legislation that the munitions department had been established under during wartime, that could not continue indefinitely.
Structure
The Department was a Commonwealth Public Service department, staffed by officials who were responsible to the Minister for Munitions, initially Robert Menzies, and subsequently Philip McBride, Norman Makin, John Dedman and finally John Armstrong.