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1198 Stock and Brands Department/ Veterinary and Stock Department

Description

The first appointment of a Chief Inspector of Stock and Veterinary Officer followed the commencement of Commonwealth administration of the Northern Territory in 1911. The Chief Inspector of Stock, and from 1920 the position of Stock Inspector, belonged to a newly created Stock and Brands Department, although there seem to have been irregularities in the implementation of this agency's name. During a brief interlude between 1912 and 1914, the Northern Territory Times and Gazette makes continuous reference to the agency as the Veterinary and Stock Department. Between 1927 and 1932, when North Australia and Central Australia were administered as separate territories, the department seems to have been split into regional Stock and Brands branches.

From 1911, the Chief Inspector of Stock, the first of which was JC Lewis, would provide annual reports to the Administrator of the Northern Territory with recommendations for the animal industry. A first Brands Ordinance came into existence in 1914 and a Stock Diseases Act in 1918. A Slaughtering Ordinance followed in 1923, which from 1927 was however made the responsibility of the Chief Medical Officer.

Decisions to transfer further veterinary responsibilities to the Department of Health came in reponse to concerns about stock diseases and a call for a better veterinary organisation in 1938. This transfer of responsibilities was disrupted by the outbreak of World War II. After the bombing of Darwin on 19 February 1942, the administrative powers of the Department were transferred to the military. Consequently, until after the War several primary industry responsibilities, including the control of animal diseases and the ante-mortem examination of animals for slaughter, were under the control of an army veterinary unit. In 1946, the newly formed Animal Industry Branch took over these functions.

Subsequent Agencies

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