Australian Aid

Australia’s development program, DFAT
Agency overview
Formed1 December 1973; 50 years ago (1973-12-01)
Preceding agency
  • AusAID
JurisdictionAustralian Government
HeadquartersCanberra, ACT, Australia
Employees1,652 (April 2013)[1]
Ministers responsible
Agency executive
  • Ewan McDonald, Head of the Office of the Pacific (OTP)
Parent departmentDepartment of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Websitedfat.gov.au/development/australias-development-program

Australian Aid is the brand name used to identify projects in developing countries supported by the Australian Government. As of 2014 the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has been responsible for Australia's official development assistance (foreign aid) to developing countries.

The Australian Development Assistance Agency (ADAA) was founded in 1974 under the Whitlam government, renamed the Australian Development Assistance Bureau (ADAB) in 1976, then the Australian International Development Assistance Bureau (AIDAB) in 1987, before becoming the Australian Agency for International Development, known as AusAID, in 1995. It was merged into DFAT without prior consultation by the Abbott government in 2014, with aid slashed to most regions apart from the Pacific region.

  1. ^ Australian Public Service Commission (2 December 2013), State of the Service Report: State of the Service Series 2012-13 (PDF), Australian Public Service Commission, p. 253, archived from the original (PDF) on 6 December 2013