This is an HTML version of an attachment to the Freedom of Information request 'Brief provided by AGD to the Attorney-General'.






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Incoming Minister Brief
March 2021
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Contents
1. The Attorney-General’s Department ......................................................................................... 1 
Overview ............................................................................................................................................. 1 
Supporting you as the Attorney-General and the Minister for Industrial Relations .......................... 1 
The Assistant Minister to the Attorney-General................................................................................. 3 
Managing Commonwealth Legal Risk ................................................................................................. 3 
Organisational Structure ..................................................................................................................... 4 
Senior Executive .................................................................................................................................. 5 
2. Current priorities ...................................................................................................................... 9 
Integrity and International Group ....................................................................................................... 9 
Legal Services and Families Group .................................................................................................... 18 
Industrial Relations Group ................................................................................................................ 28 
Australian Government Solicitor....................................................................................................... 36 
3. Departmental Budget and Staffing .......................................................................................... 37 
Outcomes and Programs .................................................................................................................. 37 
Departmental Budget ....................................................................................................................... 38 
Department Average Staffing Level .................................................................................................. 38 
2020-21 Portfolio Additional Estimates ............................................................................................ 39 
Departmental budget pressures ....................................................................................................... 39 
Upcoming Budget processes ............................................................................................................. 40 
2021-22 Budget ................................................................................................................................. 40 
4. The Attorney-General’s Portfolio ............................................................................................ 41 
Portfolio Descriptions and Key Contacts........................................................................................... 42 
Courts, Tribunals and Legal Services ................................................................................................. 43 
Integrity and Oversight ..................................................................................................................... 45 
Industrial Relations ........................................................................................................................... 47 
Portfolio Budget and Staffing............................................................................................................ 51 
5. Attachments .......................................................................................................................... 53 
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providing expert legal services that meet the unique needs of the Commonwealth –
including Cabinet, ministers and agencies – primarily through the Australian Government
Solicitor (AGS) Group.
As a Minister of State, including as Minister for Industrial Relations, the Attorney-General is 
responsible for policy and legislation as set out in the Administrative Arrangements Order.  
The Attorney-General is responsible for the Commonwealth’s legal architecture and institutions, 
including appointments to Commonwealth courts and tribunals and key legislation such as the 
Evidence Act. The Attorney-General is also responsible for a range of civil justice issues, including: 
Constitutional policy and litigation
Family law, including family safety and family relationship services, marriage law, regulating
marriage celebrants, and leading a national response to the issue of elder abuse
Native title policy and litigation
Bankruptcy and other commercial law issues, including international commercial arbitration
and the recognition of foreign civil and commercial judgments, and
Commonwealth legal assistance.
The Attorney-General is also the minister with whole-of-government policy responsibility for public 
sector integrity. This includes anti-corruption and counter-fraud policy and law, the Protective 
Security Policy Framework, the foreign influence transparency scheme and lobbyist code of conduct 
and register, the Public Interest Disclosure Scheme, human rights, administrative law, freedom of 
information and access to government records. The Attorney-General is responsible for oversight of 
Australia’s intelligence, security and law enforcement agencies.  
The Attorney-General administers criminal law and justice legislation, including a significant portion 
of the Crimes Act 1914 and all of the Criminal Code Act 1995, the principles of criminal responsibility 
under Commonwealth laws, as well as evidence, sentencing and parole regimes. The department 
works closely with the Department of Home Affairs, which has policy responsibility for most national 
security, law enforcement and criminal justice matters. 
Aspects of the international work in which the department is engaged include maintaining and 
strengthening cross-border cooperation mechanisms and supporting law and justice in Papua New 
Guinea and the Pacific. The department is the central authority for international crime cooperation, 
including for mutual assistance, extradition and international transfer of prisoners. We also manage 
the Commonwealth’s international family law (child abduction) casework. 
The Attorney-General also has a distinct role as the Minister for Industrial Relations. The Minister for 
Industrial Relations has policy responsibility for workplace relations policy, work health and safety, 
rehabilitation and compensation frameworks. The department is responsible for administering the 
Fair Entitlements Guarantee (FEG) program which provides a safety net for workers impacted by the 
liquidation or bankruptcy of their employer. The department is also responsible for recovery of 
amounts advanced under the FEG program from employers in certain circumstances. For Industrial 
Relations we also have international work representing Australia’s interest at the International 
Labour Organization (ILO). 
COVID-19 has had a significant impact on the work of the department. The department has played a 
significant role in supporting the Government’s response to the pandemic, including securing 
additional funding for the legal assistance sector, enabling the implementation of the JobKeeper 
wage subsidy scheme, supporting the development of the COVIDSAFE app, and providing legal 
advice in respect of a wide range of economic and health programs.  

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