Defence & veteransAgencyExists today
Australian Submarine Agency
ASA
1 July 2023 – present
Executive agency in the Defence portfolio responsible for delivering Australia's conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarine capability under the AUKUS partnership, from acquisition through construction, sustainment and disposal.
How it came into existence
Established on 1 July 2023 as a non-corporate executive agency by order of the Governor-General under the Public Service Act 1999, as announced with the AUKUS Optimal Pathway in March 2023, replacing the Nuclear-Powered Submarine Taskforce in the Department of Defence.
- Nuclear-powered submarine program
Legislation: Public Service Act 1999 (executive agency order)
Main functions
- Acquisition of Virginia-class submarines from the United States
- Design and construction of SSN-AUKUS submarines with the United Kingdom
- Sustainment and eventual disposal of nuclear-powered submarines
- Submarine industrial base, workforce and infrastructure development
- Nuclear stewardship, safety, security and non-proliferation obligations
- Management of trilateral AUKUS submarine arrangements
Where it sits
In the portfolio of Department of Defence.
- Type of body
- Non-corporate Commonwealth entity
- Portfolio
- Defence
- Accountable authority
- Director General of the ASA – Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Rule 2014 schedule 1 item 6A(b)
- ABN
- 67 250 046 148
Lineage
Loading lineage…
Sources
Primary sources
- List of Commonwealth entities and companies under the PGPA Act, 1 July 2026 (Department of Finance)
- Australian Government Organisations Register (Department of Finance, data.gov.au) (listed from 30 September 2023 to the latest release (30 June 2026))