The Department of Defence, also known simply as Defence, is a department of the

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 ...

that is responsible for administering the

Australian Defence Force The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the Armed forces, military organisation responsible for the defence of Australia and its national interests. It consists of three branches: the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army and the Royal Aus ...

(ADF) and its related entities, and is charged with the defence of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and its national interests. Along with the ADF, it forms part of the larger

Australian Defence Organisation The Australian Defence Organisation (ADO) is an Australian Government organisation that consists of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), the Department of Defence (Australia), Department of Defence (DoD, also branded as Defence Australia), and o ...

(ADO) and is accountable to the

Parliament of Australia The Parliament of Australia (officially the Parliament of the Commonwealth and also known as the Federal Parliament) is the federal legislature of Australia. It consists of three elements: the Monarchy of Australia, monarch of Australia (repr ...

, on behalf of the Australian people, for the efficiency and effectiveness with which it carries out government policy. The executive head of the department, who leads it on a day-to-day basis, independent of a change of government, is the

Secretary A secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, program evalu ...

of the Department of Defence (SECDEF), currently

Greg Moriarty Gregory Laurence Moriarty, (born 4 April 1964) is a senior Australian public servant and diplomat, and the current Secretary of the Department of Defence since 4 September 2017. He was previously the Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Malcolm Tu ...

. SECDEF reports to the Minister for Defence,

Richard Marles Richard Donald Marles (born 13 July 1967) is an Australian politician and lawyer serving as the 19th and current deputy prime minister of Australia and the Minister for Defence (Australia), minister for Defence since May 2022. He has been the ...

History

Australia has had at least one defence-related government department since

Federation A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

in 1901. The first Department of Defence existed from 1901 until 1921. In 1915, during World War I, a separate

Department of the Navy Navy Department or Department of the Navy may refer to: * United States Department of the Navy The United States Department of the Navy (DON) is one of the three military departments within the United States Department of Defense. It was esta ...

was created. The two departments merged in 1921 to form the second Department of Defence, regarded as a separate body. A major departmental reorganisation occurred in the lead-up to World War II. The Department of Defence was abolished and replaced with six smaller departments – the Defence Co-ordination (for defence policy, financial, and administrative matters), three "service departments" (

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

, and

Air An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosph ...

), the Supply and Development (for munitions and materiel), and

Civil Aviation Civil aviation is one of two major categories of flying, representing all non-military and non-state aviation, which can be both private and commercial. Most countries in the world are members of the International Civil Aviation Organization and ...

. The current Department of Defence was formally created in 1942, when Prime Minister

John Curtin John Curtin (8 January 1885 – 5 July 1945) was an Australian politician who served as the 14th prime minister of Australia from 1941 until his death in 1945. He held office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), having been most ...

renamed the existing Department of Defence Co-ordination. The other defence-related departments underwent a series of reorganisations, before being merged into the primary department over the following decades. This culminated in the abolition of the three service departments in 1973. A new

Department of Defence Support The Department of Defence Support was an Australian government department that existed between May 1982 and December 1984. History The department was established by the Fraser government after a recommendation from the Defence Review ...

was created in 1982, but abolished in 1984. In May 2022, ''

The Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in 1 ...

'' reported that department had been renamed Defence Australia. However, the department's corporate documents continue to refer to it as the Department of Defence. The Australian Department of Defence, along with the Australian state and other governments partially fund the

Australian Strategic Policy Institute The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) is a defence and strategic policy think tank based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, founded by the Australian government, and funded by the Australian Department of Defence along with o ...

(ASPI), a defence and strategic policy think tank based in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...

Defence Committee

The Defence Committee is the primary decision-making committee in the Department of Defence, supported by six subordinate committees, groups and boards. The Defence Committee is focused on major capability development and resource management for the

and shared accountability of the Secretary and the Chief of the Defence Force. The members of the Defence Committee are: * Secretary of the Department of Defence (SECDEF) * Chief of the Defence Force (CDF) * Vice Chief of the Defence Force (VCDF) * Associate Secretary * Chief of Navy (CN) * Chief of Army (CA) * Chief of Air Force (CAF) * Chief of Joint Operations (CJOPS) * Deputy Secretary for Capability Acquisition and Sustainment * Deputy Secretary for Strategic Policy and Intelligence * Chief Defence Scientist (CDS) *

Chief of Joint Capabilities Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boat ...

(CJC) * Chief Information Officer (CIO) * Chief Finance Officer (CFO) * Deputy Secretary for People * Deputy Secretary for Estate and Infrastructure

Organisational groups

the Department of Defence consists of ten major organisational groups: * Associate Secretary Groupprovides administrative, legal and governance services including audit and fraud control, security and vetting, the Judge Advocate General, and communications and ministerial support. * Chief Information Officer Groupleads the integrated design, cost effective delivery, and sustained operation of Defence information * Chief Finance Officer Groupto drive the financial and management improvement programs for Defence *

Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group The Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG) is an organisation within the Australian Department of Defence, responsible for acquisition, supply chain management, and sustainment of military equipment and materiel including aircra ...

(CASG) Australia's largest project management organisation and its mission is to acquire and sustain equipment for the Australian Defence Force, created through the amalgamation of the

Capability Development Group The Chief of Capability Development Group (CCDG) was head of the Capability Development Group (CDG) in the Australian Department of Defence, part of the Australian Defence Organisation. This position was created in December 2003 and disbanded ...

and

Defence Materiel Organisation The Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG) is an organisation within the Department of Defence (Australia), Australian Department of Defence, responsible for Military acquisition, acquisition, Military supply chain management, sup ...

in 2015. * Defence People Grouphuman resource outcomes across the Defence employment cycle from strategy and policy development, through to implementation and service delivery *

Defence Estate and Infrastructure Group The Defence Security and Estate Group (abbreviated as ''SEG'') is the infrastructure and service delivery organisation of the Australian Department of Defence responsible for environmental stewardship, land management and facilities maintenance of ...

consolidated service delivery organisation for Defence that enables Defence capability by working in partnership to deliver integrated services through a highly capable workforce *

Defence Science and Technology Group The Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG) is a part of the Australian Department of Defence, which provides science and technology support to Defence and defence industry. The agency's name was changed from Defence Science and Technolog ...

lead agency charged with applying science and technology to protect and defend Australia and its national interests *

Defence Strategic Policy and Intelligence Group The Defence Strategic Policy and Intelligence Group (SP&I) of the Australian Government Department of Defence is responsible for defence diplomacy, strategic policy, international security, and military intelligence co-ordination and advice ...

provides policy advice and coordination for strategy and intelligence for Defence, including overseeing the

Defence Intelligence Organisation The Defence Intelligence Organisation (DIO) is an Australian government military intelligence agency responsible for strategic intelligence and technical intelligence assessments, advising defence and government decision-making on national sec ...

Australian Signals Directorate The Australian Signals Directorate (ASD), formerly the Defence Signals Directorate, is a statutory agency of the Government of Australia responsible for signals intelligence, providing intelligence support to Australian military operations, con ...

, and the

Australian Geospatial-Intelligence Organisation The Australian Geospatial-Intelligence Organisation (AGO) is an government of Australia, Australian government intelligence agency that is part of the Department of Defence (Australia), Department of Defence responsible for the collection, analy ...

Intelligence and Security Group
, Australian Government Directory

Diarchy

The Chief of the Defence Force (CDF) and the Secretary of the Department of Defence (SECDEF) jointly manage the

(ADO) under a

diarchy Diarchy (from Greek , ''di-'', "double", and , ''-arkhía'', "ruled"),Occasionally spelled ''dyarchy'', as in the ''Encyclopaedia Britannica'' article on the colonial British institution duarchy, or duumvirate. is a form of government charac ...

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 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 ...

List of departmental secretaries

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

References

External links

Department of Defence website
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Department Of Defence (Australia) Military of Australia Australian Defence Force

Defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...