Centenary of Federation & Australian CustomsPrint Page

The plaque commemorates the centenary of the Federation of the Australian colonies and Australian Customs in 1901.

The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self governing colonies of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia formed one nation. When the Constitution of Australia came into force, on 1 January 1901, the colonies collectively became states of the Commonwealth of Australia. They kept the systems of government that they had developed as separate colonies but also would have a federal government that was responsible for matters concerning the whole nation.

The Department of Trade and Customs was an Australian government department that existed between 1901 and 1956. It was one of the inaugural government departments of Australia established at federation. 

The Department was one of the first seven Commonwealth Government departments to be established in the Federation year, 1901.The first head of the department was Harry Wollaston, appointed in 1901. In that first year, Wollaston and Charles Kingston worked closely together in drafting legislation and the first Commonwealth customs tariff.

In 1956, the department was abolished and most of its functions were split between the Department of Customs and Excise and the Department of Trade.

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