List of Australian Government entities

Each portfolio is led by one or more government ministers who are members of the federal parliament, appointed by the governor-general on the advice of the prime minister.

This includes:[2][3] Principal entities are Australian Government entities that are defined in the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2011 as either a: The Australian Government comprises 20 portfolio departments, each representing a seat in the federal cabinet and leading its respective portfolio area:[4][2] There are 171 principal entities other than the cabinet departments.

These government agencies are classified by the Australian Government Organisations Register as either a non-corporate Commonwealth entity, a corporate Commonwealth entity, or a Commonwealth company.

[2] On 18 September 2013 an Administrative Arrangements Order was issued by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Prime Minister Tony Abbott[5] which replaced the previous Order of 14 September 2010 issued by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Gillard government.

[6][7] The Order formed or re-confirmed government departments, as follows: Following the appointment of Malcolm Turnbull as Prime Minister, three departments were renamed, with effect from 21 September 2015:[8] Following the election of the Turnbull government, the Department of the Environment was renamed, with effect from 19 July 2016:[9][10] Some departments were renamed, with effect from 20 December 2017:[11] Following the election of the Morrison government, five departments were renamed, with effect from 29 May 2019:[12] The number of departments were cut from 18 to 14, with effect from 1 February 2020:[13][14] The new Albanese Government made the following modifications and increased the number of departments to 16, with effect from 1 July 2022:[15][16][17]