Department of Defence (Australia)

This article is about the civilian department of the Australian Public Service which supports the Australian Defence Force. For the military force itself, see Australian Defence Force.
Defence Australia
Department overview
Formed14 April 1942 (1942-04-14)[1]
Preceding department
JurisdictionAustralia
HeadquartersCanberra
Employees16,272 (2020)[2]
Annual budgetA$37.82 billion (2019–20)[3]
Minister responsible
Department executive
Child agencies
Websitedefence.gov.au

Defence Australia is a department of the Australian Government that is responsible for administering the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and its related entities, and is charged with the defence of Australia and its national interests.[4] Along with the ADF, it forms part of the larger Australian Defence Organisation (ADO) and is accountable to the Parliament of Australia, on behalf of the Australian people, for the efficiency and effectiveness with which it carries out government policy.

The executive head of the department, who leads it on a day-to-day basis, independent of a change of government, is the Secretary of the Department of Defence (SECDEF), currently Greg Moriarty. SECDEF reports to the Minister for Defence, Richard Marles.

  1. ^ CA 46: Department of Defence [III], Central Office, National Archives of Australia, retrieved 9 February 2021
  2. ^ Macmillan, Jade; Greene, Andrew (30 June 2020). "Australia to spend $270b building larger military to prepare for 'poorer, more dangerous' world and rise of China". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  3. ^ "Portfolio Budget Statements 2019-20, Budget Related Paper No. 1.4A" (PDF). Department of Defence. 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  4. ^ "Defence Leaders: Senior Managers". Department of Defence. Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved 10 November 2013.