Department of Home Affairs (1928–1932)

Department of Home Affairs

Department overview
Formed	10 December 1928
Preceding Department	Department of Home and Territories
Dissolved	12 April 1932
Superseding Department	Department of the Interior (I)
Jurisdiction	Commonwealth of Australia
Headquarters	Canberra
Ministers responsible	Aubrey Abbott, Minister (1928–1929) Arthur Blakeley, Minister (1929–1932) Archdale Parkhill, Minister (1932)
Department executives	William Clemens, Secretary (1928) Percy Deane, Secretary (1929–1932)

The Department of Home Affairs was an Australian government department that existed between 1928 and 1932. It was the second so-named Australian government department.

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 dealt with:

• Actuarial matters
• Aliens' registration (new matter, as the Aliens' Registration Act 1920 had not appeared before its suspension by Act of 1926)
• Astronomy
• Australian War Memorial
• Census and Statistics
• Commonwealth Literary Fund
• Elections
• Emigration from Australia of children and aboriginal natives
• Forestry
• Franchise
• Immigration restrictions
• Indentured coloured labour
• Meteorology
• Naturalisation
• North Australia and Central Australia
• Northern Territory
• Oil investigation
• Oil prospecting (encouragement of)
• Passports
• Pearl shelling and Trepang fisheries in Australian waters beyond territorial limits
• People of races (other than the Aboriginal races in any State) for whom it is deemed necessary to make special laws
• Prisoners from territories
• Prospecting for precious metals (assistance for)
• Seat of Government
• Solar Observatory.

Structure

The department was a Commonwealth Public Service department, staffed by officials who were responsible to the Minister for Home Affairs.