Department of Works (1952–1973)

The Department of Works was an Australian government department that existed between June 1952 and November 1973. It was the third so-named Australian government department.

Department of Works

Department overview
Formed	4 June 1952[1]
Preceding Department	Department of Works and Housing
Dissolved	30 November 1973[1]
Superseding Department	Department of Housing and Construction (I)
Jurisdiction	Commonwealth of Australia
Ministers responsible	Wilfrid Kent Hughes, Minister (1952–1956) Allen Fairhall, Minister (1956–1958) Gordon Freeth, Minister (1958–1963) John Gorton, Minister (1963–1967) Bert Kelly, Minister (1967–1968) Reg Wright, Minister (1968–1972) Gough Whitlam, Minister (1972) Jim Cavanagh, Minister (1972–1973)
Department executives	Louis Loder, Secretary (1952–1961) Ronald Lewis, Secretary (1961–1964) George Maunder, Secretary (1964–1967) Alan Reiher, Secretary (1967–1973)

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 functions of the department were listed in Administrative Arrangements Orders as the planning execution and maintenance of Commonwealth works.^[1]

Structure

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