The Minister for Defence is the

minister of state Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

of the

Commonwealth of Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It has a total area of , making it the sixth-largest country in ...

charged with overseeing the organisation, implementation, and formulation of strategic policy in defence and military matters as the head of the Department of Defence. The Minister for Defence is responsible for the

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 ...

and 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). The current Defence minister is Richard Marles, who is also concurrently serving as

deputy prime minister of Australia The deputy prime minister of Australia is the deputy Chief executive officer, chief executive and the Deputy prime minister, second highest ranking officer of the Australian Government. The office of deputy prime minister was officially creat ...

, having been selected by

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 ...

Anthony Albanese Anthony Norman Albanese ( or ; born 2 March 1963) is an Australian politician serving as the 31st and current prime minister of Australia since 2022. He has been the Leaders of the Australian Labor Party#Leader, leader of the Labor Party si ...

in May 2022 following the

2022 Australian federal election The 2022 Australian federal election was held on Saturday, 21 May 2022, to elect members of the 47th Parliament of Australia. The incumbent Morrison government, Liberal–National Coalition government, led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, soug ...

. As the Minister for Defence is responsible for the management of Australia's defence and military forces and the portfolio's accountability to the Parliament, the secretary of Defence is required under section 63(1) of the ''Public Service Act 1999'' and the ''Requirements for Annual Reports'' from the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Public Accounts and Audit to submit a report to the responsible ministers on the activities of the Department of Defence after the end of each financial year for presentation to the Parliament. It is one of only four ministerial positions (along with prime minister,

attorney-general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

and

treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

) that have existed 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) ...

Defence policy

The Defence minister is primarily responsible for implementing government defence policy. The three main entities responsible for formulating defence policy within Defence are the Air Power Development Centre,

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 ...

, and Sea Power Centre - Australia. Additionally, the minister releases white papers, that assess Australia's current defence capabilities and set out areas of reform. The most recent white paper publication is the '' 2016 Defence White Paper'' that includes three elements: the 2016 Defence White Paper itself, ''2016 Integrated Investment Program'', and ''2016 Defence Industry Policy Statement''. It is the eighth defence white paper since 1976.

Composition of the defence portfolio

Over the years there have been a number of ministers with a variety of functions involved in the defence portfolio; in the period November 1939 to April 1942, there was no position named ''Minister of Defence''. Instead, several ministers were responsible for the various tasks and duties that are presently under the purview of the minister for Defence. Previous governments have included ministers with titles using one or more of the following terms: *Air *Aircraft production *Army *Defence *Defence Coordination *Defence Industry *Defence Materiel *Defence Personnel *Defence Production *Defence Science *Defence Support *Development *MunitionsThe Department of Munitions was created during World War II, and existed between 11 June 1940 and April 1948. *Navy *Repatriation *Shipping *Supply *Veterans' Affairs

List of ministers for defence

There was a Minister for Defence from 1 January 1901 until 13 November 1939, with the exception of two small breaks.

Robert Menzies The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, praise, reno ...

, the Prime Minister, abolished the position on the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and created separate Ministers for the Navy, the Army and the Air, with himself as Minister for Defence Coordination in his first ministry. He retained this position until the fall of his government, and then held the post in the brief government of Arthur Fadden.

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 ...

initially followed the same arrangement as Menzies in his ministry until 14 April 1942, when he took the title of Minister for Defence. The separate titles of Ministers for the Navy, the Army and the Air were abolished in the second Whitlam Ministry on 30 November 1973, when the separate departments of

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

were also abolished. There had also been a separate Navy portfolio between 1915 and 1921. The following have served as Minister for Defence:

List of assistant ministers for defence

The following individuals have been appointed as Assistant Minister for Defence, or any of its precedent titles:

Defence policy

Composition of the defence portfolio

List of ministers for defence

List of assistant ministers for defence

Individual service branch ministers

Ministers for the Navy

Ministers for the Army

Ministers for Air

See also

Notes

References

External links