Special Minister of State

Not to be confused with Special Minister of State (New South Wales).

The Special Minister of State (SMOS) in the Government of the Commonwealth of Australia is a position currently held by Don Farrell since 1 June 2022, following the Australian federal election in 2022.^[1] The minister is responsible for various parliamentary, electoral, financial, public service, and oversight affairs.

Special Minister of State
Commonwealth Coat of Arms
Flag of Australia
Incumbent Don Farrell since 1 June 2022 (2022-06-01)
Department of Finance
Style	The Honourable
Appointer	Governor-General on the advice of the prime minister
Inaugural holder	Don Willesee
Formation	19 December 1972 (1972-12-19)
Website	www.smos.gov.au

Scope

The Special Minister of State administers their portfolio through the Department of Finance and a range of other government agencies, including:^[2]

• Asset Management and Parliamentary Services (Government Business, Special Claims and Land Policy Division, Property and Construction Division & Ministerial and Parliamentary Services)
• Australian Electoral Commission
• Australian Government Information Management Office (Policy and Planning Divisions & the Agency Services Division)
• Australian National Audit Office
• Australian Public Service Commission
• Commonwealth Ombudsman
• Electoral Reform
• Government Advertising
• Parliamentary Integrity
• Public Interests Disclosure
• Register of Lobbyists
• Remuneration Tribunal

List of Special Ministers of State

The following individuals have been appointed as Special Ministers of State, or any of its precedent titles:^[3][4]

Order	Minister	Party		Prime Minister	Title	Term start	Term end	Term in office
1	Don Willesee		Labor	Whitlam	Special Minister of State	19 December 1972 (1972-12-19)	30 November 1973 (1973-11-30)	346 days
2	Lionel Bowen					30 November 1973 (1973-11-30)	6 June 1975 (1975-06-06)	1 year, 188 days
3	Doug McClelland					6 June 1975 (1975-06-06)	11 November 1975 (1975-11-11)	158 days
4	Reg Withers		Liberal	Fraser		11 November 1975 (1975-11-11)	22 December 1975 (1975-12-22)	41 days
5	Mick Young		Labor	Hawke		11 March 1983 (1983-03-11)	14 July 1983 (1983-07-14)	125 days
6	Kim Beazley					14 July 1983 (1983-07-14)	21 January 1984 (1984-01-21)	191 days
n/a	Mick Young					21 January 1984 (1984-01-21)	16 February 1987 (1987-02-16)	3 years, 26 days
7	Michael Tate					16 February 1987 (1987-02-16)	24 July 1987 (1987-07-24)	158 days
8	Susan Ryan					24 July 1987 (1987-07-24)	19 January 1988 (1988-01-19)	179 days
9	Frank Walker			Keating		24 March 1993 (1993-03-24)	25 March 1994 (1994-03-25)	1 year, 1 day
10	Gary Johns					25 March 1994 (1994-03-25)	11 March 1996 (1996-03-11)	1 year, 352 days
11	Nick Minchin		Liberal	Howard		9 October 1997 (1997-10-09)	21 October 1998 (1998-10-21)	1 year, 12 days
12	Chris Ellison					21 October 1998 (1998-10-21)	30 January 2001 (2001-01-30)	2 years, 101 days
13	Eric Abetz					30 January 2001 (2001-01-30)	27 January 2006 (2006-01-27)	4 years, 362 days
14	Gary Nairn					27 January 2006 (2006-01-27)	3 December 2007 (2007-12-03)	1 year, 310 days
15	John Faulkner		Labor	Rudd		3 December 2007 (2007-12-03)	9 June 2009 (2009-06-09)	1 year, 188 days
16	Joe Ludwig					9 June 2009 (2009-06-09)	24 June 2010 (2010-06-24)	1 year, 97 days
				Gillard		24 June 2010 (2010-06-24)	14 September 2010 (2010-09-14)
17	Gary Gray					14 September 2010 (2010-09-14)	25 March 2013 (2013-03-25)	2 years, 192 days
18	Mark Dreyfus					25 March 2013 (2013-03-25)	27 June 2013 (2013-06-27)	177 days
				Rudd		27 June 2013 (2013-06-27)	18 September 2013 (2013-09-18)
19	Michael Ronaldson		Liberal	Abbott		18 September 2013 (2013-09-18)	15 September 2015 (2015-09-15)	2 years, 3 days
				Turnbull		15 September 2015 (2015-09-15)	21 September 2015
20	Mal Brough					21 September 2015 (2015-09-21)	29 December 2015 (2015-12-29)	99 days
21	Mathias Cormann					29 December 2015 (2015-12-29)	19 July 2016 (2016-07-19)	203 days
22	Scott Ryan					19 July 2016 (2016-07-19)	13 November 2017 (2017-11-13)	1 year, 117 days
n/a	Mathias Cormann					13 November 2017 (2017-11-13)	23 August 2018 (2018-08-23)	283 days
23	Alex Hawke			Morrison		28 August 2018 (2018-08-28)	29 May 2019 (2019-05-29)	274 days
n/a	Mathias Cormann					29 May 2019 (2019-05-29)	30 October 2020 (2020-10-30)	1 year, 154 days
24	Simon Birmingham					30 October 2020 (2020-10-30)	8 October 2021	343 days
25	Ben Morton					8 October 2021 (2021-10-08)	23 May 2022 (2022-05-23)	227 days
26	Don Farrell		Labor	Albanese		1 June 2022 (2022-06-01)	Incumbent	3 years, 73 days