Minister for Home Affairs
Commonwealth Coat of Arms
Flag of Australia
Incumbent Tony Burke since 29 July 2024 (2024-07-29)
Department of Home Affairs
Appointer	Governor-General on theadvice of theprime minister
Inaugural holder	William Lyne
Formation	1 January 1901 (1901-01-01)
Website	minister.homeaffairs.gov.au/ministers-for-home-affairs/the-hon-tony-burke-mp

TheMinister for Home Affairs is the minister in theAustralian government responsible for theDepartment of Home Affairs, the country'sinterior ministry. The current minister isTony Burke of theLabor Party, who has held the position since July 2024 in theAlbanese ministry.

The current Department of Home Affairs was created in December 2017. Thefirst department with that name was created in 1901, as one of the original six departments created atFederation, and was responsible for a wide range of areas not captured by the other departments. Similar departments have existed in almost all subsequent governments, under several different names. The specific title "Minister for Home Affairs" has been created six times – in 1901, 1929, 1977, 1987, 2007 and 2017.

The Minister for Home Affairs was a ministerial portfolio that existed continuously from 1901 to 12 April 1932, whenArchdale Parkhill becameMinister for the Interior in thefirst Lyons Ministry — subsuming his portfolios of Home Affairs andTransport.

The Home Affairs or Interior portfolio was responsible for various internal matters not handled by other ministries. In due course, other portfolios were established that took over functions from it, including:

• Transport from 1928 to 1932 and continuously since 1941
• Immigration since 1945
• Agriculture since 1942
• Industry from 1928 to 1945 and since 1963

TheMinister for the Interior existed from 1932 to 1972. TheTerritories portfolio has been the responsibility for the varying titles of theMinister for Territories.

The Home Affairs Ministry was re-established in 2007, assuming the responsibilities of theMinister for Justice and Customs within theAttorney-General's Department with policy responsibilities for criminal justice, law enforcement, border control and national security and with oversight responsibilities of theAustralian Customs Service and theBorder Protection Command, theAustralian Federal Police, theAustralian Crime Commission, and theOffice of Film and Literature Classification.^[1]

From September 2010 to September 2013, the Minister for Home Affairs also held the position ofMinister for Justice. In September 2013 with thechange of government, the position Minister for Home Affairs was disbanded and its responsibilities were assumed by the newly createdMinister for Immigration and Border Protection forborder control and by theMinister for Justice for law enforcement.

On 18 July 2017, Prime MinisterMalcolm Turnbull announced the creation of a new home affairs department to be headed by Immigration MinisterPeter Dutton, with responsibility for immigration, border control, domestic security, and law enforcement.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

On 20 December 2017, Governor-GeneralPeter Cosgrove swore Dutton into the position of Minister for Home Affairs. The Home Affairs portfolio was formed by way of anAdministrative Arrangements Order issued on 20 December 2017^[7] with responsibilities for national security including cybersecurity and counterterrorism, law enforcement, emergency management, transport security, immigration, citizenship, border control, and multicultural affairs.

In July 2024, upon thereshuffle of the Albanese Ministry, responsibility for oversight ofASIO was delegated to theAttorney-General's Department rather than being accountable to theHome Affairs Department. Prime Minister Albanese had previously moved responsibility for oversight of theAFP from the Home Affairs Department to the Attorney-General's Department in2022 upon his election as Prime Minister.^[8]

The following individuals have been appointed as Minister for Home Affairs, or any of its related titles:^[9]

¹ Morrison was appointed as Minister for Home Affairs by the Governor-General on Morrison's advice in May 2021, with both Morrison and Andrews holding the position of Minister for Home Affairs until May 2022. However, theappointment of Morrison was not made public until August 2022.

From 1901 to 1956 Customs was handled by the Minister for Trade and Customs. In 1956Frederick Osborne was appointed Minister for Customs and Excise.Kep Enderby was appointed Minister for Police and Customs in 1975. In 1975 responsibility for customs was absorbed into the portfolio of the Minister for Business and Consumer Affairs,John Howard. In May 1982, the portfolio of the Minister for Business and Consumer Affairs was abolished and customs functions were transferred to the Minister for Industry and Commerce,Phillip Lynch. In January 1988,Barry Jones became responsible for customs as Minister for Science, Customs and Small Business withinJohn Button's portfolio of Industry and Commerce and there were subsequently junior ministers responsible for customs within the industry portfolio until March 1993 and from March 1994 until December 2007, when customs became part of the responsibility of the Minister for Home Affairs,Bob Debus. Between September 2013 and December 2017, it was the responsibility of the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection.

The following individuals have held responsibility for customs:^[9]

Notes

¹ Whitlam was one of atwo-man ministry consisting of himself andLance Barnard for two weeks until the full ministry was announced.

The following individuals have been appointed as Assistant Minister for Home Affairs, or any of its related titles:^[9]

• Department of Home Affairs (1901–16)
• Department of Home and Territories (1916–1928)
• Department of Home Affairs (1928–32)
• Department of the Interior (1932–39)
• Department of the Interior (1939–72)
• Department of Home Affairs (1977–80)
• Department of Home Affairs and Environment (1980–84)
• Department of Home Affairs (2017–Present)

• Official website

• Lists of government ministers of Australia
• Internal affairs ministries

• Articles with short description
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• Use dmy dates from September 2022
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