Department of Defence Production

The Department of Defence Production was an Australian government department that existed between May 1951 and April 1958.

Not to be confused with Department of Defence Production (Canada).

Department of Defence Production

Department overview
Formed	11 May 1951[1]
Preceding Department	Department of Supply
Dissolved	23 Apr 1958[1]
Superseding Department	Department of Supply
Jurisdiction	Commonwealth of Australia
Headquarters	Melbourne
Ministers responsible	Eric Harrison, Minister (1951‑56) Howard Beale, Minister (1956‑58) Athol Townley, Minister (1958)
Department executives	Harold Breen, Secretary (1951‑57) John Knott, Secretary (1957‑58)

Scope

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

The Department was created with responsibility for the manufacture and supply of munitions (armaments, ammunition, weapons, machine tools, war chemicals, radar), aircraft production and defence production planning.^[1]

Structure

The Department was a Commonwealth Public Service department, staffed by officials who were responsible to the Minister for Defence Production.^[1]