Victorian Government Travel Authority

Full description

Establishment

The Victorian Government Travel Authority was established in July 1978 under the provisions of the Victorian Government Travel Authority Act 1977 (No.9083).

The Authority was deemed to be a body corporate under the Act and consisted of three members, one to be chairman and general manager, one experienced in finance and one experienced in the travel industry. The members and staff of the Authority were not subject to the provisions of the Public Service Act 1974 (No.8656) and the Authority was responsible to the Minister responsible for Tourism (see VRG 70, VRG 71, VRG 89).

Functions

The functions of the Authority were:

to promote and market travel
to make travel arrangements
to provide travel information services
to advise the Minister upon any of the above matters.

Pursuant to these functions the Authority inherited responsibility for the management and operation of the Victorian Government Travel Bureaux from the Department of State Development, Decentralisation and Tourism (VA 2881). The Authority also established and operated the Metropolitan Transport Information Centre for the provision of information on all country and metropolitan transport.

During 1979 responsibility for the general publicity and promotion of tourist facilities and attractions in Victoria was transferred to the Authority from the Department of State Development Decentralisation and Tourism (VA 2881) under the provisions of the Victorian Government Travel Authority (Reconstitution) Act 1979 (No.9316) s.5.

Reconstitution of the Authority

The same Act also provided for the reconstitution of the Authority enlarging the membership from three to eight.

In May 1983 the functions and responsibilities of the Authority were transferred to the newly established Victorian Tourism Commission (VA 2871) and the legislation establishing the Authority was formally repealed.

For a brief account of administrative changes and ministerial responsibility for the tourism function for the period 1888 to 1983 see VRG 91 Tourism III.

NOTE: Further research is required to fully document the shared administration between this statutory authority and the Department of State responsible for tourism at this time.

Location of Records

No records of this agency have as yet been transferred to the Public Record Office.