The Minister for Home Affairs is the minister in 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 ...

responsible for the Department of Home Affairs, the country's

interior ministry An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the ...

. The current minister is

Tony Burke Anthony Stephen Burke (born 4 November 1969) is an Australian politician serving as Leader of the House, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for the Arts. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), and has served as member of ...

of the Labor Party, who has held the position since July 2024 in the Albanese ministry. The current Department of Home Affairs was created in December 2017. The first department with that name was created in 1901, as one of the original six departments created at

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) ...

, and was responsible for a wide range of areas not captured by the other departments. Similar departments have existed in almost all subsequent governments, under several different names. The specific title "Minister for Home Affairs" has been created six times – in 1901, 1929, 1977, 1987, 2007 and 2017.

History

The Minister for Home Affairs was a ministerial portfolio that existed continuously from 1901 to 12 April 1932, when Archdale Parkhill became Minister for the Interior in the first Lyons Ministry — subsuming his portfolios of Home Affairs and

Transport Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

. The Home Affairs or Interior portfolio was responsible for various internal matters not handled by other ministries. In due course, other portfolios were established that took over functions from it, including: *

from 1928 to 1932 and continuously since 1941 *

Immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...

since 1945 *

Agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

since 1942 *

Industry Industry may refer to: Economics * Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity * Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery * The wider industrial sector ...

from 1928 to 1945 and since 1963 The Minister for the Interior existed from 1932 to 1972. The Territories portfolio has been the responsibility for the varying titles of the Minister for Territories. The Home Affairs Ministry was re-established in 2007, assuming the responsibilities of the Minister for Justice and Customs within the Attorney-General's Department with policy responsibilities for criminal justice, law enforcement, border control and national security and with oversight responsibilities of the Australian Customs Service and the

Border Protection Command The Maritime Border Command (MBC) is Australia's principal civil maritime security agency, a de facto coast guard, operating in the maritime domain to ensure compliance with Australia's maritime legislation by foreign and domestic non-state actors ...

, the

Australian Federal Police The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the principal Federal police, federal law enforcement agency of the Australian Government responsible for investigating Crime in Australia, crime and protecting the national security of the Commonwealth ...

, the Australian Crime Commission, and the Office of Film and Literature Classification. From September 2010 to September 2013, the Minister for Home Affairs also held the position of

Minister for Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

. In September 2013 with the change of government, the position Minister for Home Affairs was disbanded and its responsibilities were assumed by the newly created

Minister for Immigration and Border Protection The Minister for Immigration and Citizenship is a ministerial post of the Australian Government and is currently held by Tony Burke since July 2024 in the First Albanese ministry, Albanese ministry. The post was created in 1945 and its inaugur ...

for

border control Border control comprises measures taken by governments to monitor and regulate the movement of people, animals, and goods across land, air, and maritime borders. While border control is typically associated with international borders, it als ...

and by the

for law enforcement. On 18 July 2017, Prime Minister

Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party an ...

announced the creation of a new home affairs department to be headed by Immigration Minister Peter Dutton, with responsibility for immigration, border control, domestic security, and law enforcement. On 20 December 2017, Governor-General

Peter Cosgrove General (Australia), General Sir Peter John Cosgrove, (born 28 July 1947) is an Australian retired senior Australian Army, Army officer who served as the 26th governor-general of Australia, in office from 2014 to 2019. A graduate of the Royal ...

swore Dutton into the position of Minister for Home Affairs. The Home Affairs portfolio was formed by way of an Administrative Arrangements Order issued on 20 December 2017 with responsibilities for national security including cybersecurity and counterterrorism, law enforcement, emergency management, transport security, immigration, citizenship, border control, and multicultural affairs. In July 2024, upon the reshuffle of the Albanese Ministry, responsibility for oversight of

ASIO ''Asio'' is a genus of typical owls, or true owls, in the family Strigidae. This group has representatives over most of the planet, and the short-eared owl is one of the most widespread of all bird species, breeding in Europe, Asia, North Ameri ...

was delegated to the Attorney-General's Department rather than being accountable to the

Home Affairs Department The Home Affairs Department is an executive agency in the government of Hong Kong responsible for internal affairs of the territory. It reports to the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau, headed by the Secretary for Home Affairs. Purpose The d ...

. Prime Minister Albanese had previously moved responsibility for oversight of the AFP from the Home Affairs Department to the Attorney-General's Department in

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

upon his election as Prime Minister.

List of ministers for home affairs

The following individuals have been appointed as Minister for Home Affairs, or any of its related titles: : Morrison was appointed as Minister for Home Affairs by the Governor-General on Morrison's advice in May 2021, with both Morrison and Andrews holding the position of Minister for Home Affairs until May 2022. However, the appointment of Morrison was not made public until August 2022.

Former ministerial titles

List of ministers for customs

From 1901 to 1956 Customs was handled by the Minister for Trade and Customs. In 1956 Frederick Osborne was appointed Minister for Customs and Excise. Kep Enderby was appointed Minister for Police and Customs in 1975. In 1975 responsibility for customs was absorbed into the portfolio of the Minister for Business and Consumer Affairs,

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. His eleven-year tenure as prime min ...

. In May 1982, the portfolio of the Minister for Business and Consumer Affairs was abolished and customs functions were transferred to the Minister for Industry and Commerce,

Phillip Lynch Sir Phillip Reginald Lynch Order of St Michael and St George, KCMG (27 July 1933 – 19 June 1984) was an Australian politician who served in the Australian House of Representatives, House of Representatives from 1966 to 1982. He was deputy lea ...

. In January 1988, Barry Jones became responsible for customs as Minister for Science, Customs and Small Business within John Button's portfolio of Industry and Commerce and there were subsequently junior ministers responsible for customs within the industry portfolio until March 1993 and from March 1994 until December 2007, when customs became part of the responsibility of the Minister for Home Affairs,

Bob Debus Robert John Debus (born 16 September 1943) is a former Australian politician who served as a member of the Australian House of Representatives and the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, representing the Labor Party. Debus has been a minist ...

. Between September 2013 and December 2017, it was the responsibility of the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection. The following individuals have held responsibility for customs: Notes : Whitlam was one of a two-man ministry consisting of himself and

Lance Barnard Lance Herbert Barnard (1 May 19196 August 1997) was an Australian politician and diplomat who served as the third deputy prime minister of Australia from 1972 to 1974. He was the deputy leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1 ...

for two weeks until the full ministry was announced.

List of assistant ministers for home affairs

The following individuals have been appointed as Assistant Minister for Home Affairs, or any of its related titles:

References

External links

* {{Australian federal ministerial portfolios

Home Affairs An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a Ministry (government department), government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law e ...

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 ...