| Agency Name: | Department of the Environment and Energy |
| Type: | Department |
| Formed: | 19 July 2016 |
| Preceding1: | Department of the Environment |
| Dissolved: | 1 February 2020 |
| Superseding1: | Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment |
| Superseding2: | Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources |
| Headquarters: | John Gorton Building, King Edward Terrace, Parkes ACT 2600, Canberra, Australia |
| Jurisdiction: | Commonwealth of Australia |
| Minister1 Name: | Sussan Ley |
| Minister1 Pfo: | Minister for the Environment |
| Minister2 Name: | Angus Taylor |
| Minister2 Pfo: | Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction |
| Chief1 Name: | Finn Pratt |
| Chief1 Position: | Secretary |
The Department of the Environment and Energy (DEE) was an Australian government department in existence between 2016 and 2020.
The department was responsible for matters including environment protection and conservation of biodiversity as well as energy policy. It was established in July 2016 by the Turnbull government after the 2016 federal election.[1] Following the appointment of Scott Morrison as Prime Minister, Josh Frydenberg was elevated to Treasurer of Australia, whereby Frydenberg's previous ministerial positions were separated, with Melissa Price as Minister of the Environment and Angus Taylor as Minister for Energy. Price was reshuffled from her position in 2019, and was replaced by Sussan Ley.
By an administrative order issued on 5 December 2019 and effective from 1 February 2020,[2] the environment functions of the department were merged with all functions of the Department of Agriculture, to form the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment. The department's energy functions were transferred to the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources.[3]
The Administrative Arrangements Orders listed the department's responsibilities as follows:
The head of the department was its Secretary, Finn Pratt, responsible to the Minister for the Environment and Energy, the Hon. Melissa Price until 2019, and then the Hon. Sussan Ley . The department was staffed by individuals from the Australian Public Service.
, the DEE website also hosted the Australasian Underwater Cultural Heritage Database (AUCHD), a searchable online database containing data about shipwrecks, aircraft and other cultural heritage artefacts which are or have been underwater. The AUCHD also served as the register of protected underwater cultural heritage for the Underwater Cultural Heritage Act 2018 (the UCH Act), providing a means whereby the public could submit notifications and permit applications required under the Act.[4]
The website also hosted a number of other databases and applications in the areas of biodiversity, climate change, heritage, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act), environmental protection, land and water, as well as photo galleries of Australian plants, and environmental and cultural heritage subjects.[5]