Treasury (Australia)
The Treasury, fully Department of the Treasury, is the Australian Government ministerial department responsible for economic policy, fiscal policy, market regulation, and the Australian federal budget. The Treasury is one of only two government departments that have existed continuously since Federation in 1901, the other being the Attorney-General's Department. The most senior public servant in the Treasury is the department secretary, currently Steven Kennedy who was appointed in September 2019. Ministerial responsibility for the department lies with the Treasurer, currently Josh Frydenberg who took office in the Morrison Government in August 2018. History. The Australian Treasury  was established in Melbourne in January 1901, after the federation of the six Australian colonies. In 1910, the federal government passed the "Australian Notes Act 1910" which gave control over the issue of Australian bank notes to The Treasury and prohibited the circulation of state notes and withdrew their status as legal tender. The Treasury issued notes until 1924, when the responsibility was transferred to the Commonwealth Bank and later to "Note Printing Australia", a subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of Australia. The department is focused on developing Australian taxation system, land and income tax and economic policies. Structure. The  Treasury is divided into five groups: fiscal, macroeconomic, revenue, Corporate and Foreign investment and markets, with support coming from the Corporate Services Division. These groups were established to meet four policy outcomes. Financial regulation. The department works with the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and the Reserve Bank of Australia via the Council of Financial Regulators Working Group to ensure that market operators have appropriate oversight and to facilitate crisis management if required. Secretaries to the Treasury. The Secretary to the Treasury is the public service head of the department. Below is the list of  Secretaries. Treasury’s independence. In 2008, Treasurer Wayne Swan called Secretary to the Treasury Ken Henry an "independent economic regulator," similar to the Governor of the Reserve Bank. When asked after the 2009 Budget about Treasury’s independence, Henry replied: Forecasts. The department is legally required to provide a Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Outlook containing updated reports on the economic and fiscal outlook shortly after the issuing of a writ for a general federal election.