Department of Civil Aviation
Department overview
Formed24 November 1938[1]
Preceding Department
Dissolved30 November 1973[1]
Superseding agency
JurisdictionCommonwealth of Australia
HeadquartersVictoria
Department executives

The Department of Civil Aviation (also called the DCA) was an Australian government department that existed between November 1938 and November 1973.

History

The Department of Civil Aviation had its origins as the Civil Aviation Branch of the Department of Defence, which was established on 28 March 1921, after Parliament passed the Air Navigation Act 1920 in December 1920.[2]

The organisation was reformed as a separate Government Department after the enquiry into the 1938 Kyeema Crash.[3] When created in 1938, the Department was organised into seven branches: Administration, Transport Services and Legislation, GroundOrganisation, Electrical Engineering, Aeronautical Engineering, Flying Operations and Accounts and Stores.[1] Arthur Brownlow Corbett was appointed Director-General of Civil Aviation in April 1939, serving until his retirement in August 1944.[3] From June 1946 to December 1955 the Director-General was Richard Williams, a former Royal Australian Air Force Chief of the Air Staff.[4] Donald George Anderson held the position of Director-General from January 1956 until September 1973.[5]

Fokker F.27 Friendship of the Australian DCA at Melbourne's Essendon Airport in 1970

On 30 November 1973 the DCA merged with the Department of Shipping and Transport and became the Department of Transport, Air Transport Group. The amalgamation was after the Second Whitlam Ministry agreed that this could achieve closer coordination of policies in the transport field and facilitate a more effective determination of the expenditure priorities and resources allocation.[6]

Structure and scope

The Department was an Australian Public Service department responsible to the Minister for Civil Aviation. The Department was headed by the Director-General.

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 Department dealt with matters relating to civil aviation and administered related legislation.[7]

List of ministers

#NamePartyStartEndPM
1Harold Thorby Country24 November 193826 April 1939Lyons
Page
2James Fairbairn United Australia26 April 193913 August 1940Menzies
3Arthur Fadden Country14 August 194028 October 1940Menzies
4John McEwen Country28 October 19407 October 1941Menzies
Fadden
5Arthur Drakeford Labor7 October 194119 December 1949Curtin
Forde
Chifley
6Thomas White Liberal19 December 194911 May 1951Menzies
7Larry Anthony Country11 May 19519 July 1954Menzies
8Athol Townley Liberal9 July 195424 October 1956Menzies
9Shane Paltridge Liberal24 October 195610 June 1964Menzies
10Denham Henty Liberal10 June 196426 January 1966Menzies
11Reginald Swartz Liberal26 January 196612 November 1969Holt
McEwen
Gorton
12Bob Cotton Liberal12 November 19695 December 1972Gorton
McMahon
13Gough Whitlam Labor5 December 197219 December 1972Whitlam
14Charles Jones Labor19 December 197230 November 1973Whitlam

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 CA 29: Department of Civil Aviation, Central Office, National Archives of Australia, retrieved 27 November 2013
  2. ↑ Organisational Timeline of the Department, The Airways Museum & Civil Aviation Historical Society, archived from the original on 22 October 2012
  3. 1 2 Arthur Brownlow Corbett MBE (1877 - 1970), The Airways Museum & Civil Aviation Historical Society, archived from the original on 22 October 2012
  4. ↑ Air Marshal Sir Richard Williams, KBE, CB, DSO (1890–1980), The Airways Museum & Civil Aviation Historical Society, archived from the original on 19 April 2012
  5. ↑ Sir Donald George Anderson (1917–1975), The Airways Museum & Civil Aviation Historical Society, archived from the original on 22 October 2012
  6. ↑ CA 1492: Department of Transport [III], Head Office/ (from 1975) Central Office, Canberra and Melbourne, National Archives of Australia, retrieved 18 June 2013
  7. ↑ Administrative Arrangements Order made on 30 November 1939 (PDF), National Archives of Australia, 30 November 1939, p. 15, archived from the original (PDF) on 25 April 2013

References and further reading

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