Department of Foreign Affairs (Australia)

Department of Foreign Affairs

Department overview
Formed	6 November 1970
Preceding Department	Department of External Affairs (II)
Dissolved	24 July 1987
Superseding agency	Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Jurisdiction	Commonwealth of Australia
Ministers responsible	William McMahon, Minister (1970‑71) Les Bury, Minister (1971) Nigel Bowen, Minister (1971‑72) Gough Whitlam, Minister (1972‑73) Don Willesee, Minister (1973‑75) Andrew Peacock, Minister (1975‑80) Tony Street, Minister (1980‑83)
Department executives	Keith Waller, Secretary (1970‑74) Alan Renouf, Secretary (1974‑77) Nick Parkinson, Secretary (1977‑79) Peter Henderson, Secretary (1979‑84) Stuart Harris, Secretary (1984‑87)

The Department of Foreign Affairs was an Australian government department that existed between November 1970 and July 1987.

The Department was created under the Gorton Government, the new Department representing a simple name change from the previous Department of External Affairs. The old External Affairs title was sometimes causing confusion and the name change, initiated by William McMahon, brought Australia into line with common international practice.

Information about the department's functions and/or government funding allocation could be found in the Administrative Arrangements Orders, the annual Portfolio Budget Statements and in the Department's annual reports.

In 1975, the Department's functions were:

The Department was a Commonwealth Public Service department, staffed by officials who were responsible to the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

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