The Public Works Branch was established within the Department of Home Affairs [1] on 1 October 1901 with the appointment of a
Superintendent of Works with effect from that date.  (Commonwealth Gazette, No 34, 18 July 1902, p 319).  On 26 January 1904, an Inspector-General of Works was appointed (Commonwealth Gazette, No 8, 6 February 1904, p 88), from which date separate records appear to have been maintained by the Branch.  By 1909, he had become the Director-General of Works, which title continued under the Department of Works and Railways.
 
The Public Works Branch was in November 1916 transferred to the newly created Department of Works and Railways and its records were amalgamated with those of the Department's central office in 1917.  The Branch therefore ceased to be a separate record-keeping agency, although the Branch continued until 1932.
 
The Public Works Regulations of 1905 (Commonwealth Gazette, No 6, 27 January 1905, pp 89-114) provided that Commonwealth Works were to be undertaken either under the supervision of the Department, in which case a Works Director was to be appointed in the State concerned, or by arrangement with State agencies, in which case a Works Registrar should be appointed.
Historical agency address
Melbourne, Victoria