Department of Home Affairs
20 December 2017 – present
Previously Department of Immigration and Border Protection (2013–2017).
Department of State at the centre of the Home Affairs portfolio, responsible for immigration and citizenship, border protection and customs (through the Australian Border Force), national security and counter-terrorism policy, cyber security and critical infrastructure, transport security and emergency management.
Names over time
- Department of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs1975–1987
- Department of Immigration, Local Government and Ethnic Affairs1987–1993
- Department of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs1993–1996
- Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs1996–2001
- Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs2001–2006
- Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs2006–2007
- Department of Immigration and Citizenship2007–2013
- Department of Immigration and Border Protection2013–2017
- Department of Home Affairs2017–present
How it came into existence
Created by the Administrative Arrangements Order of 20 December 2017 when the Department of Immigration and Border Protection was renamed on taking national security, protective security, critical infrastructure, cyber security and emergency management functions from the Attorney-General's Department, counter-terrorism coordination and cyber security policy from the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, transport security from the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development, and multicultural affairs from the Department of Social Services. Peter Dutton became the first Minister for Home Affairs.
- Immigration and citizenship
- Border protection and the Australian Border Force
- Customs
- National security and criminal justice policy
- Protective security policy
- Critical infrastructure security (Critical Infrastructure Centre)
- Cyber security (CERT Australia)
- Emergency management (Emergency Management Australia)
- Counter-terrorism coordination
- Cyber security policy
- Transport security (Office of Transport Security)
- Multicultural affairs
Changes during its life
- Settlement services for refugees and humanitarian entrants
29 May 2019 is the date of the post-election Administrative Arrangements Order; the effective date of the move is not confirmed.
- Adult Migrant English Program
29 May 2019 is the date of the post-election Administrative Arrangements Order; the effective date of the move is not confirmed.
Main functions
- Immigration, visas and citizenship
- Border protection and customs (Australian Border Force)
- National security and counter-terrorism policy and coordination
- Cyber security and critical infrastructure security policy
- Transport security
- Emergency management (Emergency Management Australia)
- Multicultural affairs and settlement services for migrants and humanitarian entrants
Where it sits
- Type of body
- Non-corporate Commonwealth entity
- Portfolio
- Home Affairs
- Accountable authority
- Secretary of the Department – Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 section 12(2) item 1
- ABN
- 33 380 054 835
Bodies in this portfolio (12)
- Australian Security Intelligence Organisation 1949–present
- Australian Institute of Criminology 1973–present
- Australian Federal Police 1979–present
- Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre 1992–present
- Emergency Management Australia 1993–2022
- Australian Crime Commission 2003–present
- Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority 2009–present
- CERT Australia 2010–2018
- Australian Border Force 2015–present
- Maritime Border Command 2015–present
- National Recovery and Resilience Agency 2021–2022
- National Emergency Management Agency 2022–present
Lineage
Loading lineage…
Sources
Primary sources
- Administrative Arrangements Order of 19 April 2018 (sets it out)
- Administrative Arrangements Order of 13 May 2025, as amended to 1 July 2025 (sets it out)
14 more Administrative Arrangements Orders set it out
- Administrative Arrangements Order of 19 April 2018, as amended to 28 August 2018 (sets it out)
- Administrative Arrangements Order of 4 April 2019 (sets it out)
- Administrative Arrangements Order of 29 May 2019 (sets it out)
- Administrative Arrangements Order of 29 May 2019, as amended to 1 September 2019 (sets it out)
- Administrative Arrangements Order of 5 December 2019 (sets it out)
- Administrative Arrangements Order of 5 December 2019, as amended to 2 April 2020 (sets it out)
- Administrative Arrangements Order of 18 March 2021 (sets it out)
- Administrative Arrangements Order of 1 June 2022 (sets it out)
- Administrative Arrangements Order of 23 June 2022 (sets it out)
- Administrative Arrangements Order of 13 October 2022 (sets it out)
- Administrative Arrangements Order of 13 October 2022, as amended to 8 June 2023 (sets it out)
- Administrative Arrangements Order of 13 October 2022, as amended to 3 August 2023 (sets it out)
- Administrative Arrangements Order of 13 October 2022, as amended to 29 July 2024 (sets it out)
- Administrative Arrangements Order of 13 May 2025 (sets it out)
- 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 31 December 2017 to the latest release (30 June 2026))
Government records and websites
Some dates or links for this organisation are not fully confirmed. Corrections are welcome.