17th Parliament
Elected 21 August 1943 · first met 23 September 1943 · dissolved 16 August 1946
The changes below took effect from its election on 21 August 1943 to 27 September 1946, the day before the next election, so they count the work of the government it produced.
- John Curtin (Labor)
- Frank Forde (Labor)
- Ben Chifley (Labor)
Changes
25
5 renamed from1 merged from3 absorbed6 split from3 took over functions from7 replaced
Departments of State
3 / 3
created / abolished
Other bodies
24 / 17
created / ended
Administrative Arrangements Orders
0
on the Federal Register, which holds few orders before 2001
The biggest reshuffle took effect on 1946, when 7 changes landed on one day.
What was happening
- Second World War · 3 September 1939 to 2 September 1945 · From the declaration of war on Germany to the Japanese surrender. (War or armed conflict)
Departments of State created (3)
- Department of Works 1945
- Department of Immigration 1945–1974
- Department of Works and Housing 1945–1952
Departments of State abolished (3)
- Department of Home Security 1941–1946
- Department of War Organisation of Industry 1941–1945
- Department of Works 1945
Other bodies created (24)
Show all 24 bodies created
- Australian Aluminium Production Commission 1944–1960
- Commonwealth Disposals Commission 1944–1949
- Commonwealth Experimental Building Station 1944–1982
- Central Industrial Authority 1944–1947
- Commonwealth Coal Commissioner 1944–1949
- Australian National Film Board 1945–1950
- Bureau of Agricultural Economics 1945–1988
- Commonwealth Observatory 1945–1957
- Commonwealth Office of Education 1945–1966
- Australian Wool Board 1945–1953
- Papua-New Guinea Provisional Administration 1945–1949
- Australian Wool Realization Commission 1945–1952
- AAF Company 1946–present
- Australian National Airlines Commission 1946–1988
- Australian Shipping Board 1946–1956
- British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines Limited 1946–1954
- Commonwealth Employment Service 1946–1998
- Commonwealth Investigation Service 1946–1960
- Forestry and Timber Bureau 1946–1975
- Government Aircraft Factories 1946–1987
- Life Insurance Commissioner 1946–1987
- Overseas Telecommunications Commission (Australia) 1946–1989
- Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Geophysics 1946–1992
- Australian National University 1946–present
Other bodies ended (17)
Show all 17 bodies ended
- Commonwealth Investigation Branch 1919–1946
- Commonwealth Solar Observatory 1924–1945
- Commonwealth Forestry Bureau 1925–1946
- Australian Wool Board 1936–1945
- Central Wool Committee 1939–1945
- Mineral Resources Survey 1941–1946
- Commonwealth Security Service 1941–1946
- Australian New Guinea Production Control Board 1942–1946
- Manpower Directorate 1942–1946
- Women's Employment Board 1942–1944
- Allied Works Council 1942–1945
- Commonwealth Land Transport Board 1942–1946
- Commonwealth Coal Commission 1942–1944
- Commonwealth Marine Salvage Board 1942–1946
- Commonwealth Housing Commission 1943–1944
- Commonwealth Food Control 1943–1946
- Royal Commission in the Matter of an Inquiry into a Statement that There Was a Document Missing from the Official Files in Relation to "The Brisbane Line" 1943
Every change (25)
Show every change, day by day
1 February 1946
- Department of Home Security functions transferred to Department of the Interior
- Department of Home Security functions transferred to Department of Works and Housing
1946
- Manpower Directorate replaced by Commonwealth Employment Service
- Department of Labour and National Service part split off to form Commonwealth Employment Service
- Commonwealth Investigation Branch renamed to Commonwealth Investigation Service
- Commonwealth Security Service merged into Commonwealth Investigation Service
- Commonwealth Food Control absorbed into Department of Commerce and Agriculture
- Commonwealth Forestry Bureau renamed to Forestry and Timber Bureau
- Department of Aircraft Production part split off to form Government Aircraft Factories
13 July 1945
- Department of the Interior part split off to form Department of Immigration
- Department of Works renamed to Department of Works and Housing
- Department of Post-War Reconstruction part split off to form Department of Works and Housing
2 February 1945
- Department of the Interior part split off to form Department of Works
February 1945
- Allied Works Council absorbed into Department of Works
1945
- Department of Commerce and Agriculture part split off to form Bureau of Agricultural Economics
- Commonwealth Solar Observatory renamed to Commonwealth Observatory
1944
- Women's Employment Board functions transferred to Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration