Department of Home Affairs (Australia)

Department of Home Affairs

Department overview
Formed	20 December 2017
Preceding Department	Attorney-General's Department – for national security, law enforcement and emergency management Department of Immigration and Border Protection Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development – for transport security Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet – for counterterrorism and cybersecurity Department of Social Services – for multicultural affairs
Jurisdiction	Commonwealth of Australia
Headquarters	Canberra
Employees	14,569 (2021)
Annual budget	$5.942 billion (2021)
Minister responsible	Clare O'Neil, Minister for Home Affairs
Department executive	Stephanie Foster, Secretary
Child Department	Office of Transport Security Australian Border Force National Emergency Management Agency Australian Institute of Criminology Australian Security Intelligence Organisation
Website	www.homeaffairs.gov.au
Footnotes
[1]

The Department of Home Affairs is the Australian Government interior ministry with responsibilities for national security, law enforcement, emergency management, border control, immigration, refugees, citizenship, transport security and multicultural affairs.^[2] The portfolio also includes federal agencies such as the Australian Border Force and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation. The Home Affairs portfolio reports to the Minister for Home Affairs, currently held by Clare O'Neil, and was led by the Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs, Mike Pezzullo, until his sacking in November 2023 for breaching the code of conduct.^[3] In 2022, the Australian Federal Police, Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission and Australian Transaction and Analysis Center were de-merged from the department and moved to the Attorney General portfolio.^[4]

The Department was officially established on 20 December 2017, building on the former Department of Immigration and Border Protection and bringing policy responsibilities and agencies from the Attorney-General's Department, Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, and Department of Social Services. The Department of Home Affairs is seen as the Australian version of the United Kingdom's Home Office or the United States Department of Homeland Security.^[5]