It was one of the inaugural government departments of Australia established at federation.
[2] The first head of the department was Harry Wollaston, appointed in 1901.
[3] In that first year, Wollaston and Charles Kingston worked closely together in drafting legislation and the first Commonwealth customs tariff.
[4] 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.
[1] The head of the department was the Comptroller-General, initially Harry Wollaston,[3] and later:[1]