Government Ministries
There are over 40 federal ministerial portfolios stemming from Australian parliamentary dictat. A lot of the work delegated to ministers is effectively carried out by just 19 departments such as the Department of Infrastructure and Transport, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and the Department of the Treasury. A minister is a member of the legislature who has been chosen to work as part of the executive, usually with responsibility for matters on a specific topic (his or her portfolio). Civil service and administrative heads of each department are titled ‘secretary’.