Australian Department of Defence

Department of Defence

Department overview
Formed	14 April 1942 (1942-04-14)
Preceding agencies	Department of Defence Co-ordination Department of Information
Jurisdiction	Commonwealth of Australia
Headquarters	Canberra
Employees	65,647
Annual budget	A$32.4 billion (2016/2017)
Ministers responsible	Marise Payne, Minister for Defence Dan Tehan, the Minister for Defence Materiel, Minister for Veterans' Affairs and the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Centenary of ANZAC Christopher Pyne, Minister for Defence Industry Michael McCormack, Assistant Minister to the Minister for Defence
Department executive	Brendan Sargeant (acting), Secretary of the Department of Defence (SECDEF)
Parent Department	Australian Defence Organisation (ADO)
Child agencies	Defence Science and Technology Group (DST) Defence Strategic Policy and Intelligence Group (SP&I) Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG) Joint Capabilities Group (JCG)
Website	www.defence.gov.au
Footnotes

The Australian Department of Defence is a department of the Government of Australia charged with the responsibility to defend Australia and its national interests. The department forms part of the Australian Defence Organisation (ADO) along with the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The department is accountable to the Commonwealth Parliament, on behalf of the Australian people, for the efficiency and effectiveness with which it carries out the Government's defence policy.

The head of the department, who leads the department on a daily basis, is the Secretary of the Department of Defence (SECDEF), Greg Moriarty.

The Defence Committee is the primary decision-making committee in the Department of Defence, supported by 6 subordinate committees, groups and boards. The Defence Committee is focused on major capability development and resource management for the Australian Defence Organisation and shared accountability of the Secretary and the Chief of the Defence Force.

Membership of the Defence Committee is as follows:

The Department of Defence consists of ten major organisational groups:

The Chief of the Defence Force (CDF) and the Secretary of the Department of Defence (SECDEF) jointly manage the Australian Defence Organisation (ADO) under a diarchy in which both report directly to the Minister for Defence and the Assistant Minister for Defence. The ADO diarchy is a governance structure unique in the Australian Public Service.

The Secretary of the Department of Defence (SECDEF) is a senior public service officer and historically the appointees have not come from military service.

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