Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announces major APS shake-up

Mr Albanese outlined the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water will be established from July 1, along with the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations in a statement on Wednesday afternoon, less than a fortnight after he was elected.

In addition to the new super departments, the Albanese government will rename the Health Department, adding Aged Care, while the arts will be tacked on to the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications.

The Australian Federal Police will be booted from the Home Affairs department to the Attorney-General's portfolio, which will gain responsibility for criminal law enforcement and policy.

The Finance Department will take charge of data policy and de-regulation, along with absorbing the Digital Transformation Agency.

While Home Affairs will lose its federal police agency, it gains responsibility for natural disaster responses and mitigation, the National Recovery and Resilience Agency.

Responsibility for Old Parliament House will change hands once more, moving from the Prime Minister and Cabinet portfolio to Infrastructure portfolio from July.

The changes come as 30 ministers were sworn in on Wednesday morning by the governor-general, generating a few surprises.

Jason Clare was named Education Minister with Tanya Plibersek shifting over to Environment and Water.

Mr Clare, considered a star of the Labor campaign, now holds the reins over a standalone Department of Education after the skills and employment units were pencilled in for their own department, refocusing on workplace relations.

Brendan O'Connor took ownership of the Skills and Training portfolio while Tony Burke became Employment and Workplace Relations Minister.

Richard Marles was sworn in as Defence Minister with Clare O'Neil becoming Home Affairs Minister as the super portfolio experiences a minor downsize.

The federal police union, the AFPA, welcomed the move back to the Attorney-General's portfolio "where it belongs".

"The AFPA welcomes this change as it realigns Commonwealth law enforcement with the portfolio that makes the law," the union posted in a statement on social media.

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Outside of the large law enforcement agency, a few hundred working in small agencies are expected to swap offices and secretaries following the announcement.

The return of climate change and arts to department titles marks a nod back to Labor governments before the Coalition was elected to nine years in government.

Under former prime minister Tony Abbott, climate change was dropped from the Industry Department's title, with the arts being dumped in name in 2019 under Scott Morrison when it merged with the Infrastructure Department.

Mr Albanese has used his first fortnight on the job to reiterate the importance of public servants, applauding them for the smooth transition he experienced into government after the election result became more clear.

"We'll be valuing public servants and respecting them," he said in his first press conference.

"The fact that we were able to have discussions and put measures in place to allow whatever the outcome of the result on Saturday ... says a lot about how professional our public service are.

"We should not take it for granted."

Professor Glyn Davis was appointed shortly after as Prime Minister and Cabinet's new secretary, following the ousting of former head Phil Gaetjens.

Mr Albanese announced the long-serving bureaucrat will take up the central agency's mantle from June 6 for a five-year appointment earlier this week.

The new secretary would bring a "deep understanding of public policy" and "positive change" to the role, he said.

Professor Davis has previously served as director-general of the Queensland Department of Premier and Cabinet between 1998 and 2002 along with vice-chancellor roles at Griffith University and the University of Melbourne.

He also served on the panel for David Thodey's landmark review into the APS.