Department of Police and Customs
27 March 1975 – 22 December 1975
Previously Department of Customs and Excise (1956–1975).
Short-lived Department of State that combined customs and excise administration with responsibility for the Commonwealth Police Force and the territory police forces, as a first step towards a single Australia Police.
Names over time
- Department of Customs and Excise1956–1975
- Department of Police and Customs1975
How it came into existence
Created on 27 March 1975 by the Whitlam government as the first step towards a national Australia Police, from the Department of Customs and Excise together with the Commonwealth Police and the police forces of the Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory and Norfolk Island, which had been the responsibility of the Attorney-General's Department. Kep Enderby, who remained Attorney-General, was the first minister, and A. T. Carmody, formerly head of Customs and Excise, was permanent head.
- Customs and excise
- Narcotics Bureau
- Commonwealth Police Force (matters under the Commonwealth Police Act 1957)
- Police forces of the Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory and Norfolk Island
Wikipedia names the Attorney-General's Department as the preceding department for the police functions.
How it ended
Abolished on 22 December 1975 by the Fraser government. Customs and excise went to the Department of Business and Consumer Affairs and the Commonwealth Police to the Department of Administrative Services, while the territory police forces passed to the Department of the Capital Territory and the Department of the Northern Territory.
- Commonwealth Police Force
The ACT and Northern Territory police forces went to their territory departments rather than to this department.
- Customs and excise
- Narcotics Bureau
- Australian Capital Territory Police
Wikipedia lists this department among the successors of the Department of Police and Customs; that the ACT Police was the function involved is inferred and not checked against the Administrative Arrangements Order.
- Northern Territory Police
Main functions
- Customs and excise duties
- Border control of imports and exports
- Narcotics law enforcement (Narcotics Bureau)
- Commonwealth Police Force
- Police forces of the Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory and Norfolk Island
Lineage
Loading lineage…
Sources
Primary sources
- Administrative Arrangements Order of 22 December 1975 (took effect as it ended)
Other sources
Some dates or links for this organisation are not fully confirmed. Corrections are welcome.