The Australian Customs Service was an
Australian Government
The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the pr ...
agency responsible for Australian border protection, duties and taxes between 1985 and 2009. The Service was first under the portfolio of the
Department of Industry, Technology and Commerce from 1985 to 1998 and then the
Attorney-General's Department from 1998 to 2009.
In 1998, the collection of Excise duties was transferred to the
Australian Taxation Office. The Service was dismantled in 2009 and replaced with the newly augmented, retasked and renamed
Australian Customs and Border Protection Service which moved from AGD to the newly established
Department of Immigration and Border Protection in September 2013.
History
The Australian Customs Service was created as an independent authority by the
Hawke government in 1985 under the Commonwealth ''Customs Administration Act 1985'' after operating as a departmental entity from 1982 to 1985 within the
Department of Industry, Technology and Commerce and as the
Department of Business and Consumer Affairs Bureau of Customs from 1975 to 1982.
In December 2008 then
Prime Minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Kevin Rudd announced that the Australian Government would be augmenting, re-tasking and renaming the Australian Customs Service to create the new Australian Customs and Border Protection Service. Royal assent was given to the changes on 22 May 2009 and the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service was established.
Role and functions
The role of the Australian Customs Service was to prevent the illegal movement of people and harmful goods across Australia's border, and to apply trade measures and collect border-related duties and taxes.
Structure
Customs was an
Australian Public Service
The Australian Public Service (APS) is the federal civil service of the Commonwealth of Australia responsible for the public administration, public policy, and public services of the departments and executive and statutory agencies of the G ...
agency, staffed by officials who were responsible to the agency's Minister. The responsible minister was the
Minister for Home Affairs from 2007 to 2009, the
Minister for Justice and Customs from 1998 to 2007, and the
Attorney-General of Australia between 1998 and 2007.
Between 1 January 2006 and 22 May 2009, the Chief Executive Officer of the agency was
Michael Carmody.
Lionel Woodward was Chief Executive Officer between 1994 and 2005. Frank Kelly was Comptroller-General of Customs (and head of the agency) between 1988 and 1994. Prior to Kelly,
Tom Hayes headed the agency from its establishment to 1988.
References
{{Authority control
Customs services
1985 establishments in Australia
2009 disestablishments in Australia
Government agencies established in 1985
Foreign trade of Australia
Defunct Commonwealth Government agencies of Australia