The Department was established to provide for the balanced economic development of Tasmania and the efficient management of its natural resources. On 3 February 1993 the Government sought to amalgamate the Tasmanian Development Authority, the Departments of Mines and Forestry, and the Industry Services Division of the Department of Employment, Industrial Relations and Training (but not the Industrial Relations Branch or the Tasmanian Industrial Commission). From this date the TDA began operating as the central administration of the new Department, despite the need for its Act to be amended. Mines began operating as a Division and the Industry Services Division was physically moved to Rosny. Another technical legal difficulty was encountered with the Forestry Act and related legislation which make the Forestry Commission the permanent head of the Department. SR 1993 No. 6 was therefore modified the next day by SR 1993 No. 33 recreating the Department of Forestry. A working party was established to address the problems. In the interim Forestry continued to operate as a separate Department and the review was widened to include the structure and scope of the functions of the Tasmanian Development Authority. (Ultimately Forestry was corporatised as a separate entity.) One of the early fruits of the review was the sale of the housing loan portfolio inherited from the Agricultural Bank of Tasmania. The TDA was replaced by a Board of Management for the Department which was renamed in a more corproate style on 9 November 1994 to coincide with the change.~