Minister for Social Services

Minister for Social Services
Commonwealth Coat of Arms
Flag of Australia
Incumbent Amanda Rishworth since 1 June 2022 (2022-06-01)
Department of Social Services
Style	The Honourable
Appointer	Governor-General on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of Australia
Formation	26 April 1939 (1939-04-26)
Website	ministers.dss.gov.au/amanda-rishworth

The Minister for Social Services is the Australian federal government minister who oversees Australian Government social services, including mental health, families and children's policy, and support for carers and people with disabilities, and seniors. ^[1] Amanda Rishworth was appointed as minister on 1 June 2022, following the Australian federal election in 2022. ^[2]

Portfolio

In the Government of Australia, the Ministers administer the portfolio through the Department of Social Services. Other portfolio bodies for which the Ministers are responsible include:

• Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency
• Australian Institute of Family Studies
• Commonwealth Advisory Committee on Homelessness
• Community and Disability Services Ministers' Conference
• Community Services Ministers' Advisory Council
• Emergency Relief State Advisory Committees
• National Childcare Accreditation Council Inc.
• National Disability Advisory Council
• National Disability Insurance Agency
• National Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP) Coordination and Development Committee (CAD) representatives and Information Sub-committee
• Social Security Appeals Tribunal

List of ministers for social services

The following individuals have been appointed as Minister for Social Services, or any of its precedent titles: ^[3]

Order	Minister	Party		Prime Minister	Title	Term start	Term end	Term in office
1	Frederick Stewart		United Australia	Menzies	Minister for Social Services	26 April 1939	29 August 1941	2 years, 164 days
				Fadden		29 August 1941	7 October 1941
2	Jack Holloway		Labor	Curtin		7 October 1941	21 September 1943	1 year, 349 days
3	James Fraser					21 September 1943	6 July 1945	2 years, 270 days
				Forde		6 July 1934	13 July 1945
				Chifley		13 July 1945	18 June 1946
4	Nick McKenna					18 June 1946	19 December 1949	3 years, 184 days
5	Bill Spooner		Liberal	Menzies		19 December 1949	11 May 1951	1 year, 143 days
6	Athol Townley					11 May 1951	9 July 1954	3 years, 59 days
7	William McMahon					9 July 1954	28 February 1956	1 year, 234 days
8	Hugh Roberton		Country			28 February 1956	21 January 1965	8 years, 328 days
9	Reginald Swartz		Liberal			21 January 1965	22 February 1965	32 days
10	Ian Sinclair		Country			22 February 1965	26 January 1966	3 years, 6 days
				Holt		26 January 1966	19 December 1967
				McEwen		19 December 1967	10 January 1968
				Gorton		10 January 1968	28 February 1968
11	Bill Wentworth		Liberal			28 February 1968	10 March 1971	4 years, 281 days
				McMahon		10 March 1971	5 December 1972
12	Lance Barnard		Labor	Whitlam		5 December 1972	19 December 1972	14 days
13	Don Grimes		Labor	Hawke	Minister for Community Services	13 December 1984 (1984-12-13)	16 February 1987 (1987-02-16)	2 years, 65 days
14	Chris Hurford					16 February 1987 (1987-02-16)	24 July 1987 (1987-07-24)	158 days
15	Neal Blewett				Minister for Community Services and Health	24 July 1987 (1987-07-24)	4 April 1990 (1990-04-04)	2 years, 254 days
16	Brian Howe					4 April 1990 (1990-04-04)	7 June 1991 (1991-06-07)	3 years, 355 days
					Minister for Health, Housing and Community Services	7 June 1991 (1991-06-07)	20 December 1991 (1991-12-20)
				Keating		20 December 1991 (1991-12-20)	24 March 1993 (1993-03-24)
					Minister for Housing, Local Government and Community Services	24 March 1993 (1993-03-24)	23 December 1993 (1993-12-23)
					Minister for Housing, Local Government and Human Services	23 December 1993 (1993-12-23)	25 March 1994 (1994-03-25)
17	Carmen Lawrence				Minister for Human Services and Health	25 March 1994 (1994-03-25)	11 March 1996 (1996-03-11)	1 year, 352 days
18	Michael Wooldridge		Liberal	Howard	Minister for Health and Family Services	11 March 1996 (1996-03-11)	21 October 1998 (1998-10-21)	2 years, 224 days
19	Jocelyn Newman				Minister for Family and Community Services	21 October 1998 (1998-10-21)	30 January 2001 (2001-01-30)	2 years, 101 days
20	Amanda Vanstone					30 January 2001 (2001-01-30)	7 October 2003 (2003-10-07)	2 years, 250 days
21	Kay Patterson					7 October 2003 (2003-10-07)	27 January 2006 (2006-01-27)	2 years, 112 days
22	Mal Brough				Minister for Families and Community Services and Indigenous Affairs	27 January 2006 (2006-01-27)	3 December 2007 (2007-12-03)	1 year, 310 days
23	Jenny Macklin		Labor	Rudd	Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs	3 December 2007 (2007-12-03)	24 June 2010 (2010-06-24)	5 years, 289 days
				Gillard		24 June 2010 (2010-06-24)	14 December 2011 (2011-12-14)
					Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs	14 December 2011 (2011-12-14)	27 June 2013 (2013-06-27)
				Rudd		27 June 2013 (2013-06-27)	18 September 2013 (2013-09-18)
24	Kevin Andrews		Liberal	Abbott	Minister for Social Services	18 September 2013 (2013-09-18)	23 December 2014 (2014-12-23)	1 year, 96 days
25	Scott Morrison					23 December 2014 (2014-12-23)	15 September 2015	272 days
				Turnbull		15 September 2015 (2015-09-15)	21 September 2015
26	Christian Porter					21 September 2015 (2015-09-21)	20 December 2017	2 years, 90 days
27	Dan Tehan					20 December 2017 (2017-12-20)	28 August 2018	251 days
28	Paul Fletcher			Morrison	Minister for Families and Social Services	28 August 2018 (2018-08-28)	29 May 2019 (2019-05-29)	274 days
29	Anne Ruston					29 May 2019 (2019-05-29)	23 May 2022 (2022-05-23)	2 years, 359 days
30	Amanda Rishworth		Labor	Albanese	Minister for Social Services	1 June 2022 (2022-06-01)	incumbent	1 year, 279 days

Assistant ministers

The following individuals have been appointed as Assistant Minister for Social Services, or any precedent titles: ^[3]

Order	Minister	Party		Prime Minister	Title	Term start	Term end	Term in office
1	Concetta Fierravanti-Wells		Liberal	Abbott	Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Social Services	18 September 2013 (2013-09-18)	21 September 2015 (2015-09-21)	2 years, 3 days
2	Alan Tudge			Turnbull	Assistant Minister for Social Services	30 September 2015 (2015-09-30)	18 February 2016 (2016-02-18)	141 days
3	Zed Seselja		Liberal	Turnbull	Assistant Minister for Social Services and Multicultural Affairs	18 July 2016 (2016-07-18)	20 December 2017 (2017-12-20)	1 year, 155 days
4	David Gillespie		National		Assistant Minister for Children and Families	20 December 2017 (2017-12-20)	28 August 2018 (2018-08-28)	251 days
5	Michelle Landry			Morrison		28 August 2018 (2018-08-28)	23 May 2022 (2022-05-23)	3 years, 268 days
6	Justine Elliot		Labor	Albanese	Assistant Minister for Social Services Assistant Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence	1 June 2022 (2022-06-01)	Incumbent	1 year, 279 days

Former portfolio ministers

List of ministers for works

This section is an excerpt from Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government § List of ministers for works.[ edit ]

The following individuals have been appointed as Minister for Works, or any precedent titles:

Order	Minister	Party		Prime Minister	Title	Term start	Term end	Term in office
1	Patrick Lynch		National Labor	Hughes	Minister for Works and Railways	14 November 1916	17 February 1917	95 days
2	William Watt		Nationalist			17 February 1917	27 March 1918	1 year, 38 days
3	Littleton Groom					27 March 1918	21 December 1921	3 years, 269 days
4	Richard Foster					21 December 1921	9 February 1923	1 year, 50 days
5	Percy Stewart		Country	Bruce		9 February 1923	8 August 1924	1 year, 181 days
6	William Hill					8 August 1924	29 November 1928	4 years, 113 days
7	William Gibson		Country	Bruce	Minister for Works and Railways	10 December 1928	22 October 1929	316 days
8	Joseph Lyons		Labor	Scullin		22 October 1929	4 February 1931	1 year, 105 days
9	Albert Green					4 February 1931	6 January 1932	336 days
10	Charles Marr		United Australia	Lyons		6 January 1932	12 April 1932	97 days
11	Bert Lazzarini		Labor	Curtin Forde	Minister for Works	2 February 1945 (1945-02-02)	13 July 1945 (1945-07-13)	161 days
				Chifley	Minister for Works and Housing	13 July 1945 (1945-07-13)	1 November 1946 (1946-11-01)	1 year, 111 days
12	Nelson Lemmon					1 November 1946 (1946-11-01)	19 December 1949 (1949-12-19)	3 years, 48 days
13	Richard Casey		Liberal	Menzies		19 December 1949 (1949-12-19)	11 May 1951 (1951-05-11)	1 year, 143 days
14	Wilfrid Kent Hughes					11 May 1951 (1951-05-11)	4 June 1952 (1952-06-04)	4 years, 245 days
					Minister for Works	4 June 1952 (1952-06-04)	11 January 1956 (1956-01-11)
15	Allen Fairhall					11 January 1956 (1956-01-11)	10 December 1958 (1958-12-10)	2 years, 333 days
16	Gordon Freeth					10 December 1958 (1958-12-10)	18 December 1963 (1963-12-18)	5 years, 8 days
17	John Gorton					18 December 1963 (1963-12-18)	26 January 1966 (1966-01-26)	3 years, 72 days
				Holt		26 January 1966 (1966-01-26)	28 February 1967 (1967-02-28)
18	Bert Kelly					28 February 1967 (1967-02-28)	28 February 1968 (1968-02-28)	1 year, 0 days
19	Reg Wright			Gorton		28 February 1968 (1968-02-28)	10 March 1971 (1971-03-10)	4 years, 281 days
				McMahon		10 March 1971 (1971-03-10)	5 December 1972 (1972-12-05)
20	Gough Whitlam 1		Labor	Whitlam		5 December 1972 (1972-12-05)	19 December 1972 (1972-12-19)	14 days
21	Jim Cavanagh					19 December 1972 (1972-12-19)	9 October 1973 (1973-10-09)	294 days
22	Les Johnson					9 October 1973 (1973-10-09)	30 November 1973 (1973-11-30)	1 year, 240 days
					Minister for Housing and Construction	30 November 1973 (1973-11-30)	6 June 1975 (1975-06-06)
23	Joe Riordan					6 June 1975 (1975-06-06)	11 November 1975 (1975-11-11)	158 days
24	John Carrick		Liberal	Fraser		11 November 1975 (1975-11-11)	22 December 1975 (1975-12-22)	41 days
25	John McLeay				Minister for Construction	22 December 1975 (1975-12-22)	5 December 1978 (1978-12-05)	2 years, 348 days
26	Ray Groom					5 December 1978 (1978-12-05)	3 November 1980 (1980-11-03)	1 year, 334 days
27	Tom McVeigh		National Country			3 November 1980 (1980-11-03)	7 May 1982 (1982-05-07)	3 years, 153 days
28	Ralph Hunt				Minister for Transport and Construction	7 May 1982 (1982-05-07)	11 March 1983 (1983-03-11)	308 days
29	Chris Hurford		Labor	Hawke	Minister for Housing and Construction	11 March 1983 (1983-03-11)	13 December 1984 (1984-12-13)	1 year, 277 days
30	Stewart West					13 December 1984 (1984-12-13)	24 July 1987 (1987-07-24)	2 years, 223 days
31	David Beddall		Labor	Keating	Minister for Small Business, Construction and Customs	27 December 1991 (1991-12-27)	24 March 1993 (1993-03-24)	1 year, 87 days
32	Chris Schacht					24 March 1993 (1993-03-24)	11 March 1996 (1996-03-11)	2 years, 353 days
33	Paul Fletcher		Liberal	Turnbull	Minister for Major Projects, Territories, and Local Government	21 September 2015 (2015-09-21)	16 July 2016 (2016-07-16)	299 days

Notes

¹ Whitlam was one of a two-man ministry consisting of himself and Lance Barnard for two weeks until the full ministry was announced.

List of ministers for housing

This section is an excerpt from Minister for Housing (Australia) § List of ministers for housing.[ edit ]

The following individuals have been appointed as Minister for Housing, or any of its precedent titles: ^[4]

Order	Minister	Party		Ministry	Title	Term start	Term end	Term in office
1	Bert Lazzarini		Labor	1st Chifley	Minister for Works and Housing	13 July 1945 (1945-07-13)	1 November 1946 (1946-11-01)	1 year, 111 days
2	Nelson Lemmon			2nd Chifley		1 November 1946 (1946-11-01)	19 December 1949 (1949-12-19)	3 years, 48 days
3	Richard Casey		Liberal	4th Menzies		19 December 1949 (1949-12-19)	11 May 1951 (1951-05-11)	1 year, 143 days
4	Wilfrid Kent Hughes			5th Menzies		11 May 1951 (1951-05-11)	4 June 1952 (1952-06-04)	1 year, 24 days
5	Les Bury		Liberal	10th Menzies	Minister for Housing	18 December 1963 (1963-12-18)	26 January 1966 (1966-01-26)	2 years, 39 days
6	Annabelle Rankin			1st Holt 2nd Holt McEwen 1st Gorton 2nd Gorton McMahon		26 January 1966 (1966-01-26)	22 March 1971 (1971-03-22)	5 years, 55 days
7	Kevin Cairns			McMahon		22 March 1971 (1971-03-22)	5 December 1972 (1972-12-05)	1 year, 258 days
8	Gough Whitlam 1		Labor	1st Whitlam		5 December 1972 (1972-12-05)	19 December 1972 (1972-12-19)	14 days
9	Les Johnson			2nd Whitlam		19 December 1972 (1972-12-19)	30 November 1973 (1973-11-30)	2 years, 169 days
				2nd Whitlam 3rd Whitlam	Minister for Housing and Construction	30 November 1973 (1973-11-30)	6 June 1975 (1975-06-06)
10	Joe Riordan			3rd Whitlam		6 June 1975 (1975-06-06)	11 November 1975 (1975-11-11)	158 days
11	John Carrick		Liberal	1st Fraser		11 November 1975 (1975-11-11)	22 December 1975 (1975-12-22)	41 days
12	Ivor Greenwood			2nd Fraser	Minister for Environment, Housing and Community Development	22 December 1975 (1975-12-22)	8 July 1976 (1976-07-08)	199 days
13	Kevin Newman			2nd Fraser		8 July 1976 (1976-07-08)	20 December 1977 (1977-12-20)	1 year, 165 days
14	Ray Groom			3rd Fraser		20 December 1977 (1977-12-20)	5 December 1978 (1978-12-05)	2 years, 319 days
					Minister for Housing and Construction	5 December 1978 (1978-12-05)	3 November 1980 (1980-11-03)
15	Tom McVeigh		National Country	4th Fraser		3 November 1980 (1980-11-03)	7 May 1982 (1982-05-07)	1 year, 185 days
16	Chris Hurford		Labor	1st Hawke	Minister for Housing and Construction	11 March 1983 (1983-03-11)	13 December 1984 (1984-12-13)	1 year, 277 days
17	Stewart West			2nd Hawke		13 December 1984 (1984-12-13)	24 July 1987 (1987-07-24)	2 years, 223 days
18	Peter Morris		Labor	3rd Hawke	Minister for Housing and Aged Care	19 January 1988 (1988-01-19)	15 February 1988 (1988-02-15)	27 days
19	Peter Staples			3rd Hawke 4th Hawke		15 February 1988 (1988-02-15)	7 May 1990 (1990-05-07)	2 years, 81 days
20	Brian Howe			4th Hawke	Minister for Community Services and Health	7 May 1990 (1990-05-07)	7 June 1991 (1991-06-07)	5 years, 309 days
				4th Hawke 1st Keating	Minister for Health, Housing and Community Services	7 June 1991 (1991-06-07)	24 March 1993 (1993-03-24)
				2nd Keating	Minister for Housing, Local Government and Community Services	24 March 1993 (1993-03-24)	23 December 1993 (1993-12-23)
					Minister for Housing, Local Government and Human Services	23 December 1993 (1993-12-23)	25 March 1994 (1994-03-25)
					Minister for Housing and Regional Development	25 March 1994 (1994-03-25)	11 March 1996 (1996-03-11)
21	Tanya Plibersek		Labor	1st Rudd 1st Gillard	Minister for Housing	3 December 2007 (2007-12-03)	14 September 2010 (2010-09-14)	2 years, 285 days
22	Mark Arbib			2nd Gillard	Minister for Social Housing and Homelessness	14 September 2010 (2010-09-14)	14 December 2011 (2011-12-14)	1 year, 91 days
23	Robert McClelland				Minister for Housing	14 December 2011 (2011-12-14)	5 March 2012 (2012-03-05)	82 days
24	Brendan O'Connor					5 March 2012 (2012-03-05)	4 February 2013 (2013-02-04)	336 days
25	Mark Butler				Minister for Housing and Homelessness	4 February 2013 (2013-02-04)	1 July 2013 (2013-07-01)	147 days
26	Julie Collins			2nd Rudd		1 July 2013 (2013-07-01)	18 September 2013 (2013-09-18)	79 days
27	Michael Sukkar		Liberal	2nd Morrison	Minister for Housing	29 May 2019 (2019-05-29)	23 May 2022 (2022-05-23)	2 years, 359 days
(26)	Julie Collins		Labor	Albanese	Minister for Housing	1 June 2022 (2022-06-01)	Incumbent	1 year, 279 days

Notes

¹ Whitlam was one of a two-man ministry consisting of himself and Lance Barnard for two weeks until the full ministry was announced.

List of ministers for aged care

This section is an excerpt from Minister for Aged Care § List of ministers for aged care.[ edit ]

The following individuals have been appointed as the Minister for Aged Care, or any of its precedent titles. Ministers for aged care or ageing were appointed from 1988 to 1993 and again from 1998 to 2013. The portfolio gained a mental health component in 2010. The latter returned to the health portfolio in 2013, with ageing moving to social services. The following individuals have been appointed as Minister for Mental Health and Ageing, or any of its precedent titles: ^[5] The Turnbull government transferred the aged care portfolio back to the Department of Health in October 2015. The position, since January 2017, is a separate outer ministry role that supplements the cabinet role of the Minister for Health and Aged Care. ^[6]

Order	Minister	Party		Prime Minister	Title	Term start	Term end	Term in office
1	Peter Morris		Labor	Hawke	Minister for Housing and Aged Care	19 January 1988 (1988-01-19)	15 February 1988 (1988-02-15)	27 days
2	Peter Staples					15 February 1988 (1988-02-15)	7 May 1990 (1990-05-07)	5 years, 64 days
					Minister for Aged, Family and Health Services	7 May 1990 (1990-05-07)	20 December 1991 (1991-12-20)
				Keating		20 December 1991 (1991-12-20)	24 March 1993 (1993-03-24)
3	Bronwyn Bishop		Liberal	Howard	Minister for Aged Care	21 October 1998 (1998-10-21)	26 November 2001 (2001-11-26)	3 years, 36 days
4	Kevin Andrews				Minister for Ageing	26 November 2001 (2001-11-26)	7 October 2003 (2003-10-07)	1 year, 315 days
5	Julie Bishop					7 October 2003 (2003-10-07)	27 January 2006 (2006-01-27)	2 years, 112 days
6	Santo Santoro					27 January 2006 (2006-01-27)	21 March 2007 (2007-03-21)	1 year, 53 days
7	Christopher Pyne					21 March 2007 (2007-03-21)	3 December 2007 (2007-12-03)	257 days
8	Justine Elliot		Labor	Rudd		3 December 2007 (2007-12-03)	28 June 2010 (2010-06-28)	2 years, 207 days
9	Mark Butler			Gillard	Minister for Mental Health and Ageing	28 June 2010 (2010-06-28)	1 July 2013 (2013-07-01)	3 years, 3 days
10	Jacinta Collins			Rudd		1 July 2013 (2013-07-01)	18 September 2013 (2013-09-18)	79 days
11	Sussan Ley		Liberal	Turnbull	Minister for Aged Care	30 September 2015 (2015-09-30)	19 July 2016 (2016-07-19)	1 year, 105 days
					Minister for Health and Ageing	19 July 2016 (2016-07-19)	13 January 2017 (2017-01-13)
(acting)	Arthur Sinodinos [7]					13 January 2017 (2017-01-13)	24 January 2017 (2017-01-24)	11 days
12	Ken Wyatt				Minister for Aged Care	24 January 2017 (2017-01-24)	28 August 2018 (2018-08-28)	2 years, 125 days
				Morrison	Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care	28 August 2018 (2018-08-28)	29 May 2019 (2019-05-29)
13	Richard Colbeck				Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians	29 May 2019 (2019-05-29)	22 December 2020 (2020-12-22)	2 years, 359 days
					Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services	22 December 2020 (2020-12-22)	23 May 2022 (2022-05-23)
(9)	Mark Butler		Labor	Albanese	Minister for Health and Aged Care	1 June 2022 (2022-06-01)	Incumbent	1 year, 279 days
14	Anika Wells				Minister for Aged Care

List of ministers for community services

A separate outer ministry role of the Minister for Community Services existed between January 2006 and December 2007, supplementing the cabinet role of the Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. ^{[8] [9]}

Order	Minister	Party		Prime Minister	Title	Term start	Term end	Term in office
1	John Cobb		National	Howard	Minister for Community Services	27 January 2006 (2006-01-27)	30 January 2007 (2007-01-30)	1 year, 3 days
2	Nigel Scullion					30 January 2007 (2007-01-30)	3 December 2007 (2007-12-03)	307 days
3	Mitch Fifield		Liberal	Abbott	Assistant Minister for Social Services	18 September 2013 (2013-09-18)	15 September 2015	2 years, 3 days
				Turnbull		15 September 2015 (2015-09-15)	21 September 2015

See also

• Minister for Families and Communities (New South Wales)
  • Minister for Mental Health (New South Wales)
• Minister for Mental Health (Western Australia)
• Minister for Families and Children (Victoria)
  • Minister for Mental Health (Victoria)

References

1. "Ministers". Department of Social Services . Government of Australia.
2. "Press Conference - Parliament House, Canberra | Prime Minister of Australia". pm.gov.au. 23 May 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
3. "The 45th Parliament: Parliamentary Handbook of the Commonwealth of Australia 2017". Parliament of Australia. 2017. Archived from the original on 11 July 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
4. "The 45th Parliament: Parliamentary Handbook of the Commonwealth of Australia 2017". Parliament of Australia. 2017. Archived from the original on 11 July 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
5. "The 45th Parliament: Parliamentary Handbook of the Commonwealth of Australia 2017". Parliament of Australia. 2017. Archived from the original on 11 July 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
6. "Ministerial Arrangements - House of Representatives Hansard". Parliament of Australia. 7 February 2017.
7. Anderson, Stephanie (18 January 2017). "Greg Hunt announced as Sussan Ley's replacement as Health Minister". ABC News . Retrieved 2 June 2019.
8. "Ministerial Arrangements - House Hansard". Parliament of Australia. 7 February 2006.
9. "Ministerial Arrangements - House Hansard". Parliament of Australia. 6 February 2007.

External links

• Official website