The Department of the Treasury, also known as The Treasury, is the national treasury and financial department of the federal government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The treasury is responsible for executing economic and fiscal policy, market regulation and the delivery of the federal budget with the department overseeing 16 agencies. The Treasury is one of only two departments that have existed continuously 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 other being the Department of the Attorney-General. The most senior public servant in the Treasury is the department secretary, currently Steven Kennedy who was appointed in September 2019. Ministerial responsibility for the department lies with 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 ...

, currently

Jim Chalmers James Edward Chalmers (born 2 March 1978) is an Australian politician and economist who has been serving as the treasurer of Australia in the Albanese government since May 2022. A member of the Labor Party (ALP), he has been the member of p ...

who took office in the Albanese government in May 2022. Other ministers in the department are

Clare O'Neil Clare Ellen O'Neil (born 12 September 1980) is an Australian politician who is the Minister for Housing and Minister for Homelessness since July 2024, Minister for Cities since May 2025 and was the Minister for Home Affairs and Minister f ...

, who is the Minister for Housing, Minister for Homelessness and Minister for Cities; Anne Aly, who is the Minister for Small Business; and Daniel Mulino, the Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services. There is one assistant minister, Andrew Leigh, who is the Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury.

History

The Australian Treasury was established in Melbourne in January 1901, after the federation of the six Australian colonies. In 1910, the federal government passed the '' Australian Notes Act 1910'' which gave control over the issue of Australian bank notes to The Treasury and prohibited the circulation of state notes and withdrew their status as legal tender.Reserve Bank of Australia
History of Banknotes
/ref> The Treasury issued notes until 1924, when the responsibility was transferred to the

Commonwealth Bank The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), also known as Commonwealth Bank or simply CommBank, is an Australian multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Asia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. It provides a variety of fi ...

and later to ''Note Printing Australia'', a subsidiary of the

Reserve Bank of Australia The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is Australia's central bank and banknote issuing authority. It has had this role since 14 January 1960, when the ''Reserve Bank Act 1959'' removed the central banking functions from the Commonwealth Bank. Th ...

. The department is focused on developing Australian

taxation system A tax is a mandatory financial charge or levy imposed on an individual or legal entity by a governmental organization to support government spending and public expenditures collectively or to regulate and reduce negative externalities. Tax c ...

, land and income tax and economic policies.

Operational activities

In an Administrative Arrangements Order made on 13 May 2025, the functions of the department were broadly classified into the following matters: * Economic, fiscal and monetary policy * Taxation * Borrowing money on the public credit of the Commonwealth * International finance * Foreign exchange * Financial sector policy * Currency and legal tender * Foreign investment in Australia * Superannuation and retirement savings policy * Business law and practice * Corporate, financial services and securities law * Corporate insolvency * Competition and consumer policy * Prices surveillance * Excise * Census and statistics * Valuation services * Commonwealth-State financial relations * Consumer credit * Housing, rental and homelessness policy * Building and construction industry, excluding workplace relations * Population policy * Infrastructure and project financing * Small business policy and programmes * National policy on cities * Land and planning policy * Bankruptcy * Personal property securities

Structure

The Treasury is divided into five groups: fiscal, macroeconomic, revenue, Corporate and Foreign investment and markets, with support coming from the Corporate Services Division. These groups were established to meet four policy outcomes. # Effective government spending and taxation arrangements. The Treasury provides advice on budget policy issues, trends in Commonwealth revenue and major fiscal and financial aggregates, major expenditure programmes, taxation policy, retirement income, Commonwealth-State financial policy and actuarial services. # Sound macroeconomic environment. The Treasury monitors and assesses economic conditions and prospects, both in Australia and overseas, and provides advice on the formulation and implementation of effective

macroeconomic Macroeconomics is a branch of economics that deals with the performance, structure, behavior, and decision-making of an economy as a whole. This includes regional, national, and global economies. Macroeconomists study topics such as output/ GDP ...

policy. # Well functioning markets. The Treasury provides advice on policy processes and reforms that promote a secure financial system and sound corporate practices, remove impediments to competition in product and services markets and safeguard the public interest in matters such as consumer protection and foreign investment. # Effective taxation and retirement income arrangements. The Treasury provides advice and assists in the formulation and implementation of government taxation and retirement income policies and legislation as well as providing information on material changes to taxation revenue forecasts and projections.

Agencies

As at October 2023, the Treasury oversaw 16 agencies. *Auditing & Assurances Board *

Australian Accounting Standards Board The Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) is an Australian Government agency that develops and maintains Financial statement, financial reporting standards applicable to entities in the private and public sectors of the Economy of Austra ...

Australian Bureau of Statistics The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is an List of Australian Government entities, Australian Government agency that collects and analyses statistics on economic, population, Natural environment, environmental, and social issues to advi ...

*Australian Office of Financial Management *

Australian Competition & Consumer Commission The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is the chief competition regulator of the Government of Australia, located within the Department of the Treasury. It was established in 1995 with the amalgamation of the Australian Tra ...

Australian Prudential Regulation Authority The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) is a statutory authority of the Australian Government and the prudential regulator of the Australian financial services industry. APRA was established on 1 July 1998 in response to the recom ...

*Australian Reinsurance Pool Corporation *

Australian Securities & Investments Commission The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is an independent commission of the Australian Government tasked as the national corporate regulator. ASIC's role is to regulate company and financial services and enforce laws to pro ...

Australian Taxation Office The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is an Australian statutory agency and the principal revenue collection body for the Australian Government. The ATO has responsibility for administering the Taxation in Australia, Australian federal taxation ...

*Commonwealth Grants Commission *Housing Australia *Inspector General of Taxation *National Competition Council *

Productivity Commission The Productivity Commission (PC) is the Australian Government's principal review and advisory body on microeconomic policy, regulation and a range of other social and environmental issues. The PC was created as an independent authority by th ...

* Royal Australian Mint

Financial regulation

The department works with the

, the

and the

via the Council of Financial Regulators Working Group to ensure that market operators have appropriate oversight and to facilitate

crisis management Crisis management is the process by which an organization deals with a disruptive and unexpected event that threatens to harm the organization or its stakeholders. The study of crisis management originated with large-scale industrial and envi ...

if required.

List of secretaries

The secretary to the Treasury is the public service head of the department. Below is the list of secretaries.

Treasury’s independence

In 2008, Treasurer

Wayne Swan Wayne Maxwell Swan (born 30 June 1954) is an Australian politician serving as the 25th and current Australian Labor Party National Executive#National Presidents, National President of the Labor Party since 2018, previously serving as the 14th de ...

called Secretary to the Treasury Ken Henry an "independent economic regulator," similar to the Governor of the Reserve Bank.Jennifer Hewett (21 October 2008)
RBA warns on bank guarantee as Reserve and Treasury at loggerheads
''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet daily newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership of b ...

''. News Limited. Retrieved on 24 June 2012. When asked after the 2009 Budget about Treasury’s independence, Henry replied:

Forecasts

The department is legally required to provide a Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Outlook containing updated reports on the economic and fiscal outlook shortly after the issuing of a writ for a general federal election.

References

External links

* {{authority control Australia, Treasury Government agencies established in 1901 Government departments of Australia Government finances in Australia 1901 establishments in Australia