Department of Labour and National Service

The Department of Labour and National Service was an Australian government department that existed between October 1940 and December 1972.

Department of Labour and National Service

Department overview
Formed	28 October 1940[1]
Preceding Department	Department of Industry (I)
Dissolved	19 December 1972[1]
Superseding Department	Department of Services and Property – for union ballots Department of Housing – for hostels in the ACT and immigrants Department of Labour – for industrial relations, Commonwealth Employment Service Department of Education (I) – for child care
Jurisdiction	Commonwealth of Australia
Ministers responsible	Harold Holt, Minister (1940–1941) and (1949–1958) Eddie Ward, Minister (1941–1943) Jack Holloway, Minister (1943–1949) William McMahon, Minister (1958–1966) Les Bury, Minister (1966–1969) Billy Snedden, Minister (1969–1971) Phillip Lynch, Minister (1971–1972)
Department executives	Roland Wilson, Secretary (1940–1946) William Funnell, Secretary (1946–1952) Henry Bland, Secretary (1952–1968)[2] Hal Cook, Secretary (1968–1972)

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.

At its creation, the department's functions were general labour policy, manpower priorities, investigations of labour supply and labour demand, the effective placement of labour, technical training, industrial relations and industrial welfare, and planning for post-war rehabilitation and development.^[1]

Structure

The department was a Commonwealth Public Service department, staffed by officials who were responsible to the Minister for Labour and National Service.^[1]

Sir Roland Wilson was seconded to establish the new Department of Labour and National Service in 1940, and at 36 years old became its first administrative head.^[3]