From the formation of the Civil Aviation Branch of the Department of Defence in 1921, the organisation has developed and changed in many ways. In later years the once omnipresent Department has been broken up with its various functions and operations passing to a number of successor organisations, both government and private.

Refer to an Organisational Timeline

Click here for a list of Organisational Acronyms used on this site.

Refer to a list of Ministers 1920-1996

Refer to a list of Controllers and Directors-General of Civil Aviation 1920-1973

Refer to indexes of DCA Monthly Circulars - 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950.

Refer to an index of articles from Departmental house journal DCA News 1968-1970

Refer to an index of articles from Departmental house newspaper Transport Australia, later Aviation Australia: Part 1 1981-82, Part 2 1983-84, Part 3 1985-86, Part 4 1987

Refer to indexes of material held in the archive of the Civil Aviation Historical Society

Each year the Department made an Annual Report to Parliament on Civil Aviation in Australia (and New Guinea). The Introductions from these reports provide a summary of the major events in the Department's history for that year, as well as important events in the industry generally.

Read 1947-48, 1948-49, 1949-50, 1950-52, 1961-62 1962-63

Read about The Creation of the Civil Aviation Branch and its Early Years - Part 1, Part 2

Photo of CCA Lt Col Brinsmead with Bert Hinkler

Photo of early aviation personalities - CAB's Controller of Civil Aviation Lt Col Horace Brinsmead, ANA pilot G U 'Scotty' Allan, Captain G C 'Skipper' Matthews and the CAB's Superintendent of Flying Operations Major A. Murray Jones at Essendon - c.1930.

Read the story of the Civil Air Ensign

Photos of the 'Government Hangar', Essendon Aerodrome c.1930s

Read about The DCA's Role in World War II Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Read a report on DCA in the Bombing of Darwin 1942

Read the report 1949 - "Opportunity of a Century"

Read Fifty Years Ago - 1949, 1951, 1952, 1953

See photos of the press Information Centre established by DCA in Henty House for the 1953 London-Christchurch Air Race

Read a history of Aviation Accident Investigation in Australia

The celebration of 75 Years of Civil Aviation Administration - 1996

Read about Australia's Contribution to ICAO

The Australian overseas aid programme - ATC console in Nepal, 2004

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