Department of Defence (Australia)

The Australian Department of Defence is a department of the Government of Australia charged with the responsibility to defend Australia and its national interests. The department forms part of the Australian Defence Organisation (ADO) along with the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The department is accountable to the Commonwealth Parliament, on behalf of the Australian people, for the efficiency and effectiveness with which it carries out the Government's defence policy.

The head of the department is the Secretary of the Department of Defence (SECDEF), currently Dennis Richardson (diplomat), who leads the department on a daily basis and, along with the Chief of the Defence Force (CDF), is jointly responsible to the Minister for Defence, currently Senator the Hon. David Johnston, the Assistant Minister for Defence, currently the Hon. Stuart Robert , and the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defence, currently the Hon. Darren Chester.

Organisational groups
The Department of Defence consists of 11 major organisational groups:
 * Capability Development Group
 * Chief Finance Officer Group
 * Chief Information Officer Group
 * Defence Materiel Organisation
 * Defence Science and Technology Organisation
 * Defence Support Group
 * Intelligence and Security Group
 * People Strategies and Policy
 * Strategy, Coordination and Governance

(The Australian Defence Force (ADF) consists of the uniformed groups. i.e. RAN, Army, RAAF, JOC and VCDF.)

The Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) is a prescribed agency responsible for acquisition, sustainment and disposal of Defence equipment. Although the DMO forms part of the Department of Defence, it is also separately accountable to the Minister for its budget and performance.

Diarchy
The Chief of the Defence Force (CDF) and the Secretary of the Department of Defence (SECDEF) jointly manage the Australian Defence Organisation (ADO) under a diarchy wherein both report directly to the Minister for Defence and the Assistant Minister for Defence. The ADO diarchy is a governance structure unique in the Australian public service.