The following table shows machinery of government changes that occurred during 2015–16. This table should be referred to when comparing agency numbers from one year to another.
| Date | Agency moved from | Agency moved to | Ongoing employees | Non-ongoing employees | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1/07/2015 | Customs & Border Protection (NC) | Immigration and Border Protection | 5121 | 187 | Customs and Border Protection merged into Department of Immigration |
| 1/07/2015 | Social Services | Administrative Appeals Tribunal | 71 | 14 | Commonwealth merits review tribunals amalgamated |
| 1/07/2015 | MRT - RRT (NC) | Administrative Appeals Tribunal | 289 | 11 | Commonwealth merits review tribunals amalgamated |
| 1/07/2015 | Private Health Insurance Ombudsman (NC) | Commonwealth Ombudsman | 12 | . | Private Health Insurance Ombudsman merged into the Commonwealth Ombudsman |
| 1/07/2015 | TUSMA (NC) | Communications and the Arts | 11 | 3 | TUSMA merged into Department of Communications |
| 8/10/2015 | Australian Institute of Criminology (NC) | Australian Crime Commission | 25 | 15 | Australian Institute of Criminology merged into Australian Crime Commission |
| 22/10/2015 | Finance | Prime Minister and Cabinet | 2 | 1 | Gov 2.0 and related matters |
| 22/10/2015 | Finance | Digital Transformation Office | 11 | . | Phase 1 of establishment of Digital Transformation Office as an executive agency |
| 22/10/2015 | Attorney-General's | Communications and the Arts | 169 | 16 | Classification, copyright, cultural affairs and support for the arts |
| 22/10/2015 | Environment | Agriculture and Water Resources | 137 | 12 | Water policy and resources |
| 22/10/2015 | Industry, Innovation and Science | Environment | 48 | 1 | Renewable energy technology development – Australian Renewable Energy Agency |
| 22/10/2015 | Communications and the Arts | Prime Minister and Cabinet | 15 | 1 | Whole of government service delivery policy. Public data policy. |
| 22/10/2015 | Communications and the Arts | Industry, Innovation and Science | 20 | . | National policy issues related to the digital economy |
| 23/10/2015 | Infrastructure and Regional Development | Industry, Innovation and Science | 8 | . | Northern Australia policy and coordination |
| 5/11/2015 | Finance | Digital Transformation Office | 4 | . | Phase 2 of establishment of Digital Transformation Office as an executive agency |
| 5/11/2015 | Attorney-General's | Communications and the Arts | 17 | . | Corporate staff associated with the move on 22/10/15 |
| 5/11/2015 | Environment | Agriculture and Water Resources | 12 | . | Corporate staff associated with the move on 22/10/15 |
| 5/11/2015 | Social Services | Health | 919 | 100 | Services for older people. Policy for and promotion of active ageing, other than employment policy. |
| 5/11/2015 | Social Services | Education and Training | 381 | 14 | Childcare policy and programs. Coordination of early childhood development policy and responsibilities. |
| 5/11/2015 | Human Services | Health | 355 | 4 | Medicare Provider compliance |
| 10/03/2016 | Environment | Prime Minister and Cabinet | 3 | . | Cities and built environment functions |