The Australian Atomic Energy Commission was established, as a statutory body, on 17 April 1953 (with the formal appointment of the Commissioners in consequence of the Atomic Energy Act (1953) receiving Royal Assent. 

The Commissioners however, had been selected on 27 November 1952, at which date the Commission came into existence as an administrative agency and commenced to exercise the functions which, broadly were laid down by the Act.  (Australian Atomic Energy Commission, First Annual Report: 1953, p 7).

It had, as its forerunners, two committees which had previously been advising the Government on the development of Atomic Energy in Australia.  The first was the Industrial Atomic Energy Policy Committee (CA 343), set up in 1949 to examine possible industrial applications and to suggest a national program.  It was composed of scientific and departmental representatives.  In its later stages, this Committee decided that something more comprehensive was required, and, at its own suggestion, it was replaced in April 1952, by the Atomic Energy Policy Committee (CA 332).  It was this Committee which was in turn replaced with the establishment of the Australian Atomic Energy Commission in November 1952.

The Commission at first consisted of three members (increased to five in 1958) as follows:  the first Chairman was Mr J E S Stevens; Vice-Chairman, Professor J P Baxter; and the third member was Mr H M Murray, General Manager of the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company Ltd.  (The Australian Atomic Energy Commission, The First Ten Years: 1953-1963, p 3)

The Atomic Energy Act, when passed, was designed to bring together in one piece of legislation all matters relating to atomic energy, to create the Atomic Energy Commission with all necessary powers and functions, and generally to provide for the operation of the Commission as a self-contained statutory authority. The Act imposed upon the Commission three principal responsibilities:

 . to promote the search for, and mining and treatment of, uranium in
   Australia with power to buy and sell on behalf of the Australian
   Government;
 . to develop practical uses of atomic energy by carrying out and
   assisting research, constructing plant and equipment and
   employment and training staff;
 . to collect and distribute information on uranium atomic energy.

(Australian Atomic Energy Commission, The First Ten Years: 1953-1963, p 4)

Under its control the Commission has had a variety of advisory committees.  In 1953 three Committees were established (Australian Atomic Energy Commission, Fifth Annual Report: 1957, pp 4-5): a Business Advisory Group, which advised the Commission on problems associated with the application of atomic energy to industry and on the industrial effort required to support an industrial atomic energy program, and a Scientific Advisory Committee, which advised the Commission on matters relating to atomic energy research and development.  Both of these Committees were abolished in 1965 and were replaced by the Atomic Energy Advisory Committee, which advised the Commission on scientific, industrial, and economic aspects of the development of atomic energy (Australian Atomic Energy Commission, Thirteenth Annual Report: 1965, p 72). 

The third committee established in 1953 was the Advisory Committee on Uranium Mining which advised the Commission on matters relating to uranium mining and the treatment of uranium ores.  The Commission decided to wind up the Committee in November 1971 as it had not been active for some years, (Australian Atomic Energy Commission, Twentieth Annual Report: 1972, p 125).

A fourth advisory committee was also established in 1962, the Safety Review Committee, which periodically reviewed the health and safety standards and procedures adopted by the Commission in the operation of its reactors and in the use of radiation, radio active substances, and toxic materials (Australian Atomic Energy Commission, Tenth Annual Report :1962 p 76).

In addition to all these committees, the Commission also had
representatives in the United Kingdom, United States, Japan, and Austria.

The most important of all the Commission's establishments was the Research Establishment at Lucas Heights which was officially opened on 18 April 1958 by the then Prime Minister R G Menzies (Australian Atomic Energy Commission, Sixth Annual Report: 1958, p 21). The Research Establishment incorporated the atomic reactor HIFAR (Hi Flux Australian Reactor) and fuel for this reactor was supplied from such varied locations as Rum Jungle and Mary Kathleen.

Much of the Commission's activities at Lucas Heights were undertaken with the support of various overseas countries, especially the United Kingdom and the United States.  These countries assisted the Commission in the exchange of information and materials for the civil use of atomic energy.  Further, the Commission took a leading part in the International Atomic Energy Agency since that organisation was first formed in 1955.  The Commission aimed not to work exclusively within its own four walls but to spread atomic energy information as widely as possible through Australia.  For this reason the Commission maintained close touch with the universities, who assisted in the research program by research contracts which were awarded each year. This is the reason the Commission took the lead in founding the Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering (established in 1958) and the Australian School of Nuclear Technology (established 1965).  All the Australian universities and the Commission contributed to the management and financing of these institutions (Australian Atomic Energy Commission, Seventh and Thirteenth Annual Reports: 1959, p 35, and 1965, p 83).


Source

Ministerial Statement of 30 April 1981 quoted in Commonwealth Record (27 April to 3 May 1981), pp 450-457
Historical agency address
45 Beach Street, Coogee, NSW
Legislation administered
Creation: Commonwealth of Australia Acts, No. 31 of 1953; Atomic Energy Act, 1953.