[2] At the time of announcing the new department, Prime Minister Joseph Lyons said that it would generally have control of trade matters, with the government planning to wind down the Department of Trade and Customs's role in relation to trade, including by changing legislation where necessary.
[4] By August 1935 the Commerce Department had about 80 people on its central staff.
[5] In 1936, the Department of Commerce was transferred from Melbourne to Canberra, part of a policy to centralise the general and political administration of Australia at the seat of government.
A report in the Cairns Post said the effect of the change would be to establish the independence of the Commonwealth Director of Agriculture from the permanent head of the Commerce Department, then Edward Joseph Mulvany.
[7] 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.