[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.

[5] In an administrative arrangements order made on 18 September 2013, the functions of the department were broadly classified into the following matters:[4] 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.

[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.

The workforce of the department had a reasonably even gender distribution (54% male, 46% female), but at more senior levels this ratio decreases.