| Agency Name: | Department of Finance |
| Formed: | 7 December 1976 |
| Preceding1: | Department of the Treasury |
| Dissolved: | 9 October 1997 |
| Superseding: | Department of Finance and Administration |
| Type: | Department |
| Jurisdiction: | Commonwealth of Australia |
| Employees: | 587 (at 30 June 1997) |
| Chief1 Name: | William Cole |
| Chief1 Position: | Secretary (1976–1978) |
| Chief2 Name: | Ian Castles |
| Chief2 Position: | Secretary (1978–1986) |
| Chief3 Name: | Michael Keating |
| Chief3 Position: | Secretary (1986–1991) |
| Chief4 Name: | Steve Sedgwick |
| Chief4 Position: | Secretary (1992–1996) |
| Chief5 Name: | Peter Boxall |
| Chief5 Position: | Secretary (1997) |
| Headquarters: | Canberra |
The Department of Finance (also called DoF) was an Australian government department with the mission to support and promote excellence in Commonwealth financial management and budgeting, and in program performance throughout the public sector. The department existed between December 1976 and October 1997.
The department was split from the Department of the Treasury in 1976 with the aim to separate financial oversight functions from economic policy functions generally, emulating changes Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau had introduced to his government.[1]
The department's mission was to support and promote excellence in Commonwealth financial management and budgeting, and in program performance throughout the public sector.
Information about the department's functions and government funding allocation could be found in the Administrative Arrangements Orders, the annual Portfolio Budget Statements, in the department's annual reports and on the department's website.
At its creation, the department dealt with:
The department was an Australian Public Service department, staffed by officials responsible to the Minister for Finance.