How are new government departments or agencies created?

In a room with green carpet and leather seats, men and women sit along a bench. Some are turned to look over their right shoulder to listen to a women standing to give a speech.

Ministers in the House of Representatives.

DPS Auspic

Ministers in the House of Representatives.

In a room with green carpet and leather seats, men and women sit along a bench. Some are turned to look over their right shoulder to listen to a women standing to give a speech.

DPS Auspic

Description

Ministers seated in the House of Representatives.

Permission should be sought from DPS AUSPIC for third-party or commercial uses of this image. To contact DPS AUSPIC email: auspic@aph.gov.au or phone: 02 6277 3342.

Thank you for the question. The number and areas of responsibilities of government departments and agencies regularly change. There are 2 ways this can be done; with a Machinery of Government (MoG) change, and with a new law or a change to an existing law.

A Machinery of Government (MoG) change—also known as an Administrative Arrangements Order (AAO) change—happens when the prime minister and Cabinet reorganise how it manages its responsibilities. The MoG change is published in the Australian Government Gazette and on the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet website to let people know about the change. On the advice of the prime minister, the Governor-General may need to swear-in a new minister with responsibility for the new department.

Government departments are funded and operate according to laws passed by the Australian Parliament. If Government has created or changed the responsibility of a department it may need the Parliament to pass new laws or changes to existing laws to cover a newly created department.