The Postmaster-General's Department (PMG) was a department of the

Australian federal government 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 ...

, established 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) ...

in 1901, whose responsibilities included the provision of postal and telegraphic services throughout Australia. It was abolished in December 1975 and replaced by the Postal and Telecommunications Department. Two separate legal entities had been established in July 1975 to take over the department's operations: Telecom Australia (colloquially "Telecom"; later became

Telstra Telstra Group Limited is an Australian telecommunications company that builds and operates telecommunications networks and markets related products and services. It is a member of the S&P/ASX 20 stock index, and is Australia's largest telecomm ...

) and

Australia Post Australia Post, formally the Australian Postal Corporation and also known as AusPost, is an Australian Government-State-owned enterprise, owned corporation that provides postal services throughout Australia. Australia Post's head office is loca ...

History

The Postmaster-General's Department was created in 1901 to take over all postal and telegraphy services in Australia from the states and administer them on a national basis. The department was administered by the

postmaster-general A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. History The practice of having a government officia ...

. The first permanent secretary of the department was Sir Robert Townley Scott, who held office from 1 July 1901 until his retirement on 31 December 1910. In its first 25 years, the department grew from 6,000 to 10,000 offices and from 18,000 to 47,000 staff. Earnings grew from £2.4 million to £10 million per annum. In mid-1975 the department was disaggregated into the Australian Telecommunications Commission (trading as Telecom Australia) and the Australian Postal Commission (trading as

). In 1993 the Spectrum Management Agency was formed to take responsibility of radio and television broadcast licensing, which was then merged into the Australian Communications Authority, that later became the

Australian Communications and Media Authority The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is an Australian government statutory authority within the Communications portfolio. ACMA was formed on 1 July 2005 with the merger of the Australian Broadcasting Authority and the Aus ...

. Telecom Australia changed its name to

in 1995 and has since been privatised.

Abolition

The department was abolished in December 1975 by the Fraser government, and replaced by the Postal and Telecommunications Department. The change was intended to take account of the increase in the functions of the department to include all electronic media matters which had previously been the responsibility of the Department of the Media.

List of postmasters-general

List of departmental secretaries and directors-general

*1901–1910: Robert Scott *1911–1923: Justinian Oxenham *1923–1939: Harry Brown *1940–1946: Daniel McVey *1946–1949: Bede Fanning *1949–1958: Giles Chippindall *1958: Van Vanthoff *1959–1961: Mervyn Stradwick *1961–1965: Frank O'Grady *1965–1968: Trevor Housley *1968–1972: John Knott *1972–1975: Eber Lane *1975: Fred Green

References

{{Authority control Postal system of Australia Telstra Postal history of Australia Defunct government departments of Australia Ministries established in 1901 Ministries disestablished in 1975 Australian postmasters

History

Abolition

List of postmasters-general

List of departmental secretaries and directors-general

See also

References