The Minister for Finance is a member of the

Cabinet of Australia The Cabinet of Australia, also known as the Federal Cabinet, is the chief decision-making body of the Australian government. The Cabinet is selected by the prime minister and is composed of senior government ministers who administer the exec ...

who is responsible for monitoring government expenditure and financial management. The current minister is Senator Katy Gallagher who has held the position since May 2022. In the

Government of Australia The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national Executive (government), executive government of Australia, a federalism, federal Parliamentary system, parliamentary con ...

, the minister supplements the role of the

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 ...

, being responsible for areas such as government expenditure, financial management, and the operations of government. The minister administers the portfolio through the Department of Finance. The Finance Minister is in effect the deputy Treasurer (not to be confused with the Assistant Treasurer), as the Finance Minister acts as the Treasurer in the Treasurer's absence. Unlike the Treasurer, who by convention has been a member of the House of Representatives, the Finance Minister may come from either House of Parliament.

List of ministers

The portfolio was first created in 1977 by

Malcolm Fraser John Malcolm Fraser (; 21 May 1930 – 20 March 2015) was an Australian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, and is the fourth List of ...

Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia (LP) is the prominent centre-right political party in Australia. It is considered one of the two major parties in Australian politics, the other being the Australian Labor Party (ALP). The Liberal Party was fo ...

government as Minister for Finance. It was subsequently renamed Minister for Finance and Administration by

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 ...

's government in 1997, and as Minister for Finance and Deregulation by

Kevin Rudd Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian diplomat and former politician who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and June to September 2013. He held office as the Leaders of the Australian Labo ...

's government in 2007, then returning to Minister for Finance under

Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is an Australian former politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia and was the member of parli ...

in 2013. It took on its current name under

Scott Morrison Scott John Morrison (born 13 May 1968) is an Australian former politician who served as the 30th prime minister of Australia from 2018 to 2022. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party and was ...

in 2018; the Second Morrison Ministry removed Public Service from the portfolio in May 2019. The following individuals have been appointed as Minister for Finance or any precedent titles: : Morrison was appointed as Minister for Finance by the Governor-General on Morrison's advice in March 2020, with both Morrison and Cormann holding the position of Minister for Finance until October 2020, and then Morrison and Birmingham until May 2022. However, the appointment of Morrison was not made public until August 2022. Notwithstanding Philip Lynch, John Howard and Wayne Swan who were Treasurers whilst serving as Finance Minister, two Finance Ministers who were from the House of Representatives, John Dawkins and Ralph Willis, then served as Treasurer. In addition John Fahey (served 1996-2001) had previously served as Treasurer of New South Wales when he was also Premier of that state and current minister Katy Gallagher had previously served as Treasurer of the Australian Capital Territory including when she was also the territory Chief Minister.

Former ministerial portfolios

List of ministers for administrative services

The first minister responsible for Administrative Services was Fred Daly, although the portfolio was titled Minister for Services and Property from December 1972 until October 1975. The portfolio was abolished with the resignation of David Jull on 25 September 1997 and its responsibilities were absorbed into the portfolio of Finance and Administration on 6 October 1997. The following individuals have been appointed as Minister for Administrative Services, or any precedent titles:

List of assistant ministers for finance

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

References

External links

* {{Australian federal ministerial portfolios

Finance Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...