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The Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act of 1961 commenced from 2 May 1961. The Industrial Court and Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Commission were constituted under the Act. This legislation separated the roles previously preformed by a single Tribunal, the Industrial Court of Queensland, which was established under the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act of 1929.

The Commission’s functions were essentially related to conciliating and arbitrating industrial matters, with the Industrial Court becoming an appellate Tribunal.
The Full Bench of the Commission, among other things, made declarations as to the cost of living, the standard of living, the basic wage, and standard hours of work. It made general rulings relating to any industrial matter after having given notice of its intention and in so doing gave all interested persons and opportunity to be heard. The Commission, in addition to declaring rates of pay, specified conditions of employment under each of its awards, including overtime rates; proportion of female workers to male workers, young workers to adult workers, apprentices and improvers to journeymen; hours of work as well as fixed hours of trading for shops.

During the inter-war years many conferences were held between the Commonwealth and State Governments and Wheat Growers to discuss the stabilization of the Industry. The establishment of a Commonwealth Board to effect this was the aim of these meetings. Two bills to set up the Board (1930 and 1931) were rejected by the Senate. In May and August of 1939 some progress was made towards stability.

The turmoil of the second world war furthered movement towards regulation and stabilization. It was decided that wheat, being a staple should be managed in an orderly fashion with its handling, protection, disposal and shipment responsibly co-ordinated, so the Australian Wheat Board was set up under the National Security legislation. In December 1945 the Commonwealth Government consulted with the Wheat Growers Federation, whose proposals were fully met.

The Australian Wheat Board was privatised on 1 July 1999, becoming AWB Limited.

The Australian National Line was Australia's major ship-owner operating both coastal and overseas services. It was the sole Australian operator of interstate sea passenger services.

The Australian Coastal Shipping Commission Act 1956, established the Australian Coastal Shipping Commission, trading as the Australian National Line.

The Act abolished the Australian Shipping Board and transferred all ships and other property to the Commission, which took over the Interstate Shipping Services on 1 January 1957.

The Australian Shipping Commission Act 1974 changed the title of the Commission to the Australian Shipping Commission ‘in recognition of the developing international nature of its activities’.

The functions of the Commission were to establish, maintain and operate, or to provide for the establishment, maintenance and operation of, shipping services for the carriage of passengers, goods and mails between states, Territories and between the Commonwealth or Territory of same and another country.

The Australian Shipping Commission ceased operations 30 June 1989. The ANL (Conversion into Public Company) Act 1988 converted Australian National Line into ANL Limited, a wholly owned government company.

The Australian Stevedoring Industry Authority was established under the Stevedoring Industry Act 1956 (Part II) which was proclaimed to commence on 14 August 1956 (Commonwealth Gazette, No. 46, 13 Aug 1956, p 2489). The Authority was to be made up of a Chairman, an employer representative and a trade union representative, and was to be a body corporate to regulate the performance of stevedoring operations.

The Stevedoring Industry Act (Termination) Act which came into operation on 5 December 1977 provided for the immediate transfer of most of the responsibilities and functions of the Authority to the Association of Employers of Waterside Labour (AEWL). The Act also provided for a transitional period, subsequently proclaimed in the Commonwealth Gazette to last from 5 December 1977 to 26 February 1978, during which the Authority was to function in a limited capacity and to wind up its operations. At the end of the transitional period all the assets and liabilities of the Authority were vested in the Stevedoring Industry Finance Committee which was established on 5 December 1977 by the Stevedoring Industry Finance Committee Act 1977.

The Department of Post-War Reconstruction was established on 22 December 1942 (Executive Council No. 167, (P.M.'s Minute No. 46) Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, No. 334 of 24 December 1942). In January 1943, a Director-General was appointed and a nucleus staff was taken over from the Reconstruction Division of the Department of Labour and National Service.

The Department's functions were, in general terms to prepare plans for the transition from a wartime to a peace time economy both for individuals in the Services and in War production and for the economy itself. It was to be essentially a planning and co-ordinating department, working in collaboration with other Commonwealth Departments and with State Governments and local and semi-governmental Authorities in the formulation of plans for post-war reconstruction.

The Commonwealth Arbitration (Public Service) Act of 1920 made provision for the appointment of a Public Service Arbitrator, to determine all matters submitted to the arbitrator relating to salaries, wages, rates of pay, or terms or conditions of service or employment of officers and employers of the Public Service. The arbitrator had the power to vary any determination, re-open any questions, give an interpretation of any determination and to allow amendments to a claim on application. The Arbitration (Public Service) Act of 1920 made provision for all claims pending in the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration to be transferred to the Public Service Arbitrator, and all determination that were made under the 1911 Act to be deemed as determinations made by the Arbitrator under the 1920 Act. Prior to this legislation the Aritration (Public Service) Act of 1911 gave the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration the power to deal with such matters. The Arbitration (Public Service) Act of 1920 commenced on 31 March 1921 as proclaimed in the Commonwealth Gazette No. 29 of 1921. The Arbitrator was appointed by the Governor-General, for a term of seven years and was eligible for re-appointment. Mr Atlee Hunt C.M.G. was the first Public Service Arbitrator appointed in February 1921. The Conciliation and Arbitration Act (No. 2) of 1983 repealed the Arbitration (Public Service) Act 1920 and related Acts, and transferred the jurisdiction of the Public Service Arbitrator to the Conciliation and Arbitration Commission. However, the office of the Public Service Arbitrator continued to operate until the 1983 Act came into operation on 1 June 1984.

The Department of Community Services and Health was an Australian government department that existed between July 1987 and June 1991. The department was an amalgamation of the Department of Community Services and the Department of Health. According to the Administrative Arrangements Order (AAO) made on 24 July 1987, the Department dealt with:
• Services for the aged, people with disabilities and families with children
• Community support services
• Housing assistance
• Public health, research and preventative medicine
• Community health projects
• Health promotion
• Pharmaceutical benefits
• Health benefits schemes
• Human quarantine
• National drug abuse strategy

The precursor to the Women’s Bureau was established in 1963 within the Department of Labour and National Service, with the intention that it primarily be a research unit that would also serve as a point of contact for non-governmental women’s organisations. This became the Women’s Bureau in 1968, and was concerned with such issues as equal pay and childcare policies. The Bureau was dissolved in 1997.

The Commonwealth Solar Observatory was established in January 1924, one of its purposes being the study of solar phenomena. By 1950 the Observatory's name had changed, becoming the Commonwealth Observatory. In 1957 the observatory located at Mount Stromlo became part of the Australian National University as the Department of Astronomy in the Research School of Physical Sciences.

The Prime Minister's Department was created on 1 July 1911 and its responsibilities included the Federal Executive Council, the Auditor-General, the Public Service Commissioner, and Royal Commissions. In 1916, on the abolition of the Department of External Affairs, it inherited its functions, and gained and lost several other functions over its existence. In 1966 its responsibility for education and science including the Australian National University, CSIRO and the Australian Universities Commission transferred to a new Department of Education and Science. On 12 March 1971, the Prime Minister's Department was abolished and replaced by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

The Department of Education and Science was created on 13 December 1966 taking over functions previously the responsibility of the Prime Minister's Department, the Department of the Interior and the Department of Territories. Its functions included education policy and research, administration of the Australian National University, CSIRO, and the Australian Universities Commission. In 1971 it also became responsible for the Anglo Australian Telescope Agreement Act 1970. Following the formation of a new government by the Australian Labor Party after the Federal election of December 1972, the department was abolished on 19 December 1972; its place being taken by a new Department of Education and a Department of Science.

In 1976 the ACT Further Education Branch was established with responsibility for the Canberra Schools of Art and Music. The Schools were then formally established as part of the ACT technical and further education system, when previously the New South Wales Department of Technical Education had provided full-time teaching staff. The Branch became known as the Office of ACT Further Education by 1980. In 1987, the ACT Administration Central Office acquired the functions of TAFE Colleges, the Canberra School of Arts and Canberra School of Music from the Office of ACT Further Education.

The Department of Home Affairs was established on 1 January 1901 and was one of the first seven Departments of State to be established when Australia became a Commonwealth. The functions of the Department included the Federal Capital.

In October 1913, Walter Burley Griffin was appointed Federal Capital Director of Design and Construction of Canberra for a period of three years, extended in 1916 for a further three years and in 1919 by quarterly periods. In 1921, a Federal Capital Advisory Committee recommended the termination of Walter Burley Griffin's services and the design and construction of the city was effectively transferred to the Department of Works.