The Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development was an Australian Government department that existed between September 2013 and December 2017.[3] Matters dealt with by the department included: infrastructure planning and coordination; transport safety; land transport; civil aviation and airports; maritime transport including shipping; administration of Australian territories; constitutional development of the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory; regional programs; regional development; local government matters; and regional policy.[4]
The department was headquartered in the Canberra central business district at Infrastructure House and the neighbouring building to Infrastructure House.[5]
Operational activities
In an administrative arrangements order made on 18 September 2013, the functions of the department were broadly classified into the following matters:[4]
Infrastructure planning and co-ordination
Transport safety, including investigations
Land transport
Civil aviation and airports
Transport security
Maritime transport including shipping
Major projects office, including facilitation and implementation of all non-Defence development projects
Delivery of regional and territory specific services and programmes
Planning and land management in the Australian Capital Territory
Regional development
Matters relating to local government
Regional policy and co-ordination
Prominent business units
Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics
The Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) within the department provides economic analysis, research and statistics on infrastructure, transport and regional development issues to inform Australian Government policy development and wider community understanding.[6] BITRE employs around 30 staff, including statisticians, economists and policy analysts. BITRE was first established in 1970 as the Bureau of Transport Economics by the Cabinet.[6]
Office of Transport Security
The Office of Transport Security (OTS), a business division within the department, was the Australian Government's preventive security regulator for the aviation and maritime sectors, and its primary adviser on transport security.[7] The OTS head office was in Canberra, and regional offices were situated in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.[8]
Structure and staff
The department was administered by a senior executive, comprising a secretary and several deputy secretaries.[9]: p.11
The secretary between 2009 and 2017 was Mike Mrdak.[10][11] Steven Kennedy was appointed the department's secretary in September 2017.[12]
The department had a staff of around 994 people (estimate for 2013–14),[13] of which around 836 were employed in Canberra and 15 were based overseas.[14]: p.123 Staff were employed as part of the Australian Public Service under the Public Service Act 1999. The workforce of the department had a reasonably even gender distribution (54% male, 46% female), but at more senior levels this ratio decreases.[15] Around two-thirds of the department held a bachelor's degree or higher.[15]
The department worked closely with several Australian Government agencies within its portfolio, including:
In the department's 2013–14 budget statements, expenses were categorised as either departmental or administered expenses. Departmental expenses were those within the control of the relevant agency, whereas administered expenses were those administered on behalf of the Government. Expenses could be broken down as follows:
^Department of Infrastructure and Transport (3 November 2010). "Secretary". Department of Infrastructure and Transport. Archived from the original on 26 November 2010. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
