The Department was responsible for the co-ordination of all major resource development projects through the administration of agreements between the State and the companies involved in the projects.

The name of the Department was changed to that of Industrial Development and Decentralization on the 3 March 1971.

The Department of Industrial Development (2) was abolished on the 1 May 1980 and two new departments created on the same day - that of Resources Development, and Industrial Development and Commerce. On the 25 May 1982 the name of the Department was changed to that of Industrial, Commercial and Regional Development.

The name of the Department of Industrial Development and Commerce was changed to that of Industrial, Commercial and Regional Development on the 25 May 1982. The Department was abolished on the 19 July 1983 and succeeded by the Department of Industrial Development (3) on the same day.

The Department of Industrial Development [2] was created on the 8 April 1974 following the abolition of the Department of Development and Decentralization on the same day. The Department was abolished on the 1 May 1980 and its functions divided between the newly created Departments of Industrial Development and Commerce and Resources Development.

The title of the Department of Industrial Development (1) was changed to that of Industrial Development and Decentralization on 3 March 1971.

The Department was abolished on 12 Oct 1971 and the name changed to that of Development and Decentralization on the same day.

The name of the Department of Industrial Development and Decentralization was changed to that of Development and Decentralization on 17 October 1971. The Department was abolished on 8 April 1974 and replaced by the Department of Industrial Development (2).

The Department of Industrial Development [3] was created following a change of name from that of Department of Industrial, Commercial and Regional Development, effective from 19 July 1983. With the creation of the Technology and Industry Development Authority on 1 July 1987, some functions of the Department of Industrial Development [3] passed to that Authority. The Department was actually abolished on 25 October 1988 and its remaining functions passed to the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade.

The Ministry of Economic Development and Trade was created on 25 October 1988, bringing together the Technology and Industry Development Authority (TIDA), the Countertrade Office, the Overseas Relations Office (ORO), the Industrial Lands Development Authority (ILDA) and the Department of Resources Development (DRD).

The Technology and Industry Development Authority and a new Department of Trade Development, incorporating the Office of Countertrade and the Overseas Relations Office, became sub-departments of the Department of the Ministry under the powers contained in sections 21 and 22 of the Public Service Act. The Department of Resources Development remained a sub-department of the Ministry from 25 October 1988 until 1 July 1989.

The mission of the Ministry was to promote maximum sustainable economic development within WA.

The title of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade was amended to that of the Ministry of Economic Development on 1 July 1990.

The Technology and Industry Development Authority was abolished on 1 July 1990 and the Ministry of Economic Development and the Department of Trade Development created on the same day. Both Departments were abolished on 1 January 1991 and their functions taken over by the newly created Department of State Development.

The Department of State Development was created on 1 January 1991 when the following departments were abolished: the Department of Regional Development and the North West, the Department of Resources Development (1), the Department of Trade Development and the Ministry of Economic Development.

The Department of State Development was abolished on 16 February 1993 and two new departments created on the same day - Department of Resources Development (2) and the Department of Commerce and Trade.

The Department of Resources Development was created on 1 July 1993 following the abolition of the Department of State Development. Also created on the same day was the Department of Commerce & Trade, a function previously administered by the Department of State Development.

The Department of Resources Development was abolished on 1 July 2001. The functions of the Department were transferred to the Department of Minerals and Petroleum Resources.