Administration of the Territory of New Guinea

Civil administration began on 9 May 1921 under the New Guinea Act 1920, after the League of Nations conferred the mandate for the former German territory on Australia. It replaced the military administration conducted by the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force since 1914.

Legislation: New Guinea Act 1920

1. 10 December 1928When the Department of Home and Territories was abolished, the Administrative Arrangements Order of December 1928 gave responsibility for New Guinea to the Prime Minister's Department.
2. 1941The seat of administration was moved from Rabaul to Lae, following the volcanic eruptions at Rabaul in 1937.
3. 26 June 1941Responsibility passed from the Territories Branch of the Prime Minister's Department to the new Department of External Territories.

Civil administration was suspended in early 1942 after the Japanese invasion of New Guinea and replaced by military administration (the Australian New Guinea Administrative Unit). Civil government resumed in 1945–46 under the Papua-New Guinea Provisional Administration.

• Government of the mandated Territory of New Guinea
• Native administration, patrols and labour regulation
• Administration of goldfields, land and plantations
• Reporting to the League of Nations Permanent Mandates Commission
• Customs, revenue and territory finances
• Law and order

Last in the portfolio of Department of External Territories.

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Some dates or links for this organisation are not fully confirmed. Corrections are welcome.