Department of Treasury and Finance (Victoria)

Department of Treasury and Finance
Department overview
Jurisdiction Victorian Government
Headquarters 1 Treasury Place, Melbourne
Employees 575 (at June 2014)[1]
Annual budget $255 million (2014)[2]
Ministers responsible
Department executive
  • David Martine,
    Secretary (2014–)
Website www.dtf.vic.gov.au

In the Australian state of Victoria, the Department of Treasury and Finance (DTF), also often informally referred to as The Treasury, is a government department within the Victorian Government that plays a leading role in economic, financial and resource management to support the government in delivering its policies. It is one of two central agencies, along with the Department of Premier and Cabinet, that lead and coordinate the State government in its operations.

The department has overall responsibility for formulating and implementing the government's longer-term economic and budgetary objectives, which are to achieve economic growth for all regions of the State and increase the living standards of all Victorians. It produces the State budget each year and monitors the State's financial accounting, control and reporting obligations.

The department publishes a number of financial reports throughout the year designed to allow the government to fulfill its public accountability role as dictated by legislation. Disclosure of government financial statements ensures adequate scrutiny of government expenditure.

History

1 Treasury Place from Treasury Gardens

The Department of Treasury and Finance can trace its origins to the earliest days of the settlement that became the State of Victoria. The department is one of Victoria’s oldest institutions, predating the Parliament of Victoria by more than a decade.

As well as being involved in collecting revenue from land sales and customs duty, the treasury became the principal agency responsible for the sale and safe storage of gold extracted from Victoria’s mines in the second half of the nineteenth century (see Victorian Gold Rush).[3]

The building of the treasury (now known as 'the old treasury building'), along with other civic offices like the Parliament, Customs House, and Post Office, was a reaction by authorities who wanted to display state power in Melbourne because of fears of public disorder following the gold rush.[4]

DTF Groups

The Department of Treasury and Finance is made up of four divisions that deliver the core functions of the Department:[5]

DTF Buildings

1 Macarthur Street

The Department of Treasury and Finance performs its operations in two main buildings:[6]

Barry Patten designed 1 Treasury Place and built it in the '60s according to the Internationalist style of architecture. The building is also on the Victorian Heritage Register.[7] Since a skyway connects 1 Treasury Place to 1 Macarthur Street, both are often considered to be part of the same building. The whole area linking Parliament House, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Fitzroy Gardens, and Treasury Gardens is called the Treasury Reserve, a heritage-listed precinct.[8]

Before 1878, the Victorian Treasury was situated at the corner of Spring Street and Macarthur Street. When the state treasurer and his officers moved to Treasury Place, the old building was renamed the Old Treasury.[9] Old Treasury was widely regarded as the finest 19th century public building in Australia. Upstairs in the building, Treasury officials kept the colony’s accounts. Below, in the basement, were bluestone vaults for storing the gold sent by government escort from the goldmining fields.[10]

DTF Ministers

The Department of Treasury and Finance provides support and services to two ministers of the Victorian Government:[11]

Notes

  1. ↑ Department of Treasury and Finance 2014, p. 107.
  2. ↑ Department of Treasury and Finance 2014, p. 29.
  3. ↑ Our History, Department of Treasury and Finance.
  4. ↑ Gold Rush Town, Marvellous Melbourne, Museum Victoria.
  5. ↑ Structure and Functions, Department of Treasury and Finance.
  6. ↑ Contact Details, Department of Treasury and Finance.
  7. ↑ 1 Treasury Place, Walking Melbourne.
  8. ↑ Treasury Reserve Precinct, Heritage Council of Victoria, 11 July 2010.
  9. ↑ Old Treasury Building, About.com
  10. ↑ Precinct 8: The Capital, Melbourne's Golden Mile, Visit Victoria.
  11. ↑ Ministers, Department of Treasury and Finance.

References

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