The Minister for Government Services is the minister in the Government of Australia responsible for Services Australia. The current minister since 1 June 2022 is the Hon Bill Shorten MP, who also serves as Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme.[1]
| Minister for Government Services | |
|---|---|
 | |
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| Department of Social Services Services Australia | |
| Style | The Honourable |
| Appointer | Governor-General on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of Australia |
| Inaugural holder | Frederick Stewart (as Minister for Social Services) |
| Formation | 26 April 1939 |
| Website | ministers |
The portfolio was given its current title in machinery of government changes ordered by then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison following the 2019 federal election.[2]
Scope
editIn the Government of Australia, the Minister is responsible for a number of welfare agencies and administers their portfolio through Services Australia and its component bodies:
The Department of Human Services was created on 26 October 2004, as part of the Finance Portfolio, to improve the development and delivery of Government social and health related services to the Australian people.
As a result of the Administrative Arrangements Orders (AAOs) issued on 30 January 2007, the Department of Human Services and its agencies were transferred to a newly created Human Services Portfolio.
The Minister for Government Services provides a central policy and coordination role for the delivery of services across the Portfolio as well as being the delivery agency for child support and vocational rehabilitation services. The AAOs of 25 January 2008 clarified the Department’s responsibility for the development of policy or service delivery, directed at ensuring the effective, innovative, and efficient delivery of Government services. The Department works with other departments and agencies to ensure early consideration of service delivery issues in the policy development process to improve the quality and cost effectiveness of service delivery by agencies in the Human Services Portfolio.
List of ministers for government services
editThere was a Minister for Social Services or Social Security continuously from 1939 to 1998, when service delivery was partially privatised and residual functions were transferred to the Minister for Finance and Administration. In 2004, the position of Minister for Human Services was recreated to handle the residual functions; Scott Morrison renamed the portfolio to Government Services in 2019.
The following individuals have been appointed as Minister for Government Services, or any precedent titles:[3][4]
| Order | Minister | Party affiliation | Prime Minister | Ministerial title | Term start | Term end | Term in office | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Frederick Stewart | United Australia | Menzies | Minister for Social Services | 26 April 1939 | 29 August 1941 | 2 years, 164 days | |
| Fadden | 29 August 1941 | 7 October 1941 | ||||||
| 2 | Jack Holloway | Labor | Curtin | 7 October 1941 | 21 September 1943 | 1 year, 349 days | ||
| 3 | James Fraser | 21 September 1943 | 6 July 1945 | 2 years, 270 days | ||||
| Forde | 6 July 1934 | 13 July 1945 | ||||||
| Chifley | 13 July 1945 | 18 June 1946 | ||||||
| 4 | Nick McKenna | 18 June 1946 | 19 December 1949 | 3 years, 184 days | ||||
| 5 | Bill Spooner | Liberal | Menzies | 19 December 1949 | 11 May 1951 | 1 year, 143 days | ||
| 6 | Athol Townley | 11 May 1951 | 9 July 1954 | 3 years, 59 days | ||||
| 7 | William McMahon | 9 July 1954 | 28 February 1956 | 1 year, 234 days | ||||
| 8 | Hugh Roberton | Country | 28 February 1956 | 21 January 1965 | 8 years, 328 days | |||
| 9 | Reginald Swartz | Liberal | 21 January 1965 | 22 February 1965 | 32 days | |||
| 10 | Ian Sinclair | Country | 22 February 1965 | 26 January 1966 | 3 years, 6 days | |||
| Holt | 26 January 1966 | 19 December 1967 | ||||||
| McEwen | 19 December 1967 | 10 January 1968 | ||||||
| Gorton | 10 January 1968 | 28 February 1968 | ||||||
| 11 | Bill Wentworth | Liberal | 28 February 1968 | 10 March 1971 | 4 years, 281 days | |||
| McMahon | 10 March 1971 | 5 December 1972 | ||||||
| 12 | Lance Barnard | Labor | Whitlam | 5 December 1972 | 19 December 1972 | 14 days | ||
| 13 | Bill Hayden | Minister for Social Security | 19 December 1972 | 6 June 1975 | 2 years, 169 days | |||
| 14 | John Wheeldon | 6 June 1975 | 11 November 1975 | 158 days | ||||
| 15 | Don Chipp | Liberal | Fraser | 12 November 1975 | 22 December 1975 | 40 days | ||
| 16 | Margaret Guilfoyle | 22 December 1975 | 3 November 1980 | 4 years, 317 days | ||||
| 17 | Fred Chaney | 3 November 1980 | 11 March 1983 | 2 years, 128 days | ||||
| 18 | Don Grimes | Labor | Hawke | 11 March 1983 | 13 December 1984 | 1 year, 277 days | ||
| 19 | Brian Howe | 13 December 1984 | 4 April 1990 | 5 years, 112 days | ||||
| 20 | Graham Richardson | 4 April 1990 | 20 December 1991 | 1 year, 267 days | ||||
| Keating | 20 December 1991 | 27 December 1991 | ||||||
| 21 | Neal Blewett | 27 December 1991 | 24 March 1993 | 1 year, 87 days | ||||
| 22 | Peter Baldwin | 24 March 1993 | 11 March 1996 | 2 years, 353 days | ||||
| 23 | Jocelyn Newman | Liberal | Howard | 11 March 1996 | 21 October 1998 | 2 years, 224 days | ||
| 24 | Joe Hockey | Liberal | Howard | Minister for Human Services | 26 October 2004 | 30 January 2007 | 2 years, 96 days | |
| 25 | Ian Campbell | 30 January 2007 | 9 March 2007 | 38 days | ||||
| 26 | Chris Ellison | 9 March 2007 | 3 December 2007 | 269 days | ||||
| 27 | Joe Ludwig | Labor | Rudd | 3 December 2007 | 9 June 2009 | 1 year, 188 days | ||
| 28 | Chris Bowen | 9 June 2009 | 24 June 2010 | 1 year, 97 days | ||||
| Gillard | 24 June 2010 | 14 September 2010 | ||||||
| 29 | Tanya Plibersek | 14 September 2010 | 14 December 2011 | 1 year, 91 days | ||||
| 30 | Brendan O'Connor | 14 December 2011 | 5 March 2012 | 82 days | ||||
| 31 | Kim Carr | 5 March 2012 | 23 March 2013 | 1 year, 18 days | ||||
| 32 | Jan McLucas | 23 March 2013 | 27 June 2013 | 179 days | ||||
| Rudd | 27 June 2013 | 18 September 2013 | ||||||
| 33 | Marise Payne | Liberal | Abbott | 18 September 2013 | 15 September 2015 | 2 years, 3 days | ||
| Turnbull | 15 September 2015 | 21 September 2015 | ||||||
| 34 | Stuart Robert | 21 September 2015 | 12 February 2016 | 144 days | ||||
| 35 | Alan Tudge | 18 February 2016 | 20 December 2017 | 1 year, 305 days | ||||
| 36 | Michael Keenan | 20 December 2017 | 24 August 2018 | 1 year, 160 days | ||||
| Morrison | 24 August 2018 | 29 May 2019 | ||||||
| (34) | Stuart Robert | Minister for Government Services | 29 May 2019 | 30 March 2021 | 1 year, 305 days | |||
| 37 | Linda Reynolds | 30 March 2021 | 23 May 2022 | 1 year, 56 days | ||||
| 38 | Bill Shorten | Labor | Albanese | 1 June 2022 | Incumbent | 2 years, 13 days | ||
References
edit- ^ "Press Conference - Parliament House, Canberra | Prime Minister of Australia". www.pm.gov.au. 23 May 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
- ^ Donaldson, David (29 May 2019). "Administrative orders: Home Affairs to grow". The Mandarin. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
- ^ Turnbull, Malcolm (20 December 2017). "Ministerial Arrangements" (Press release). Government of Australia. Archived from the original on 13 March 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
Michael Keenan will join Cabinet as Minister for Human Services and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Digital Transformation - a central role in ensuring all Australians get the services they expect when dealing with the Government, particularly as more and more services shift online.
- ^ "Ministries and Cabinets". 43rd Parliamentary Handbook: Historical information on the Australian Parliament. Parliament of Australia. 2010. Archived from the original on 13 August 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2013.