On the day that Federation was completed and Australia created, 1 January 1901, Garran was made a Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) "in recognition of services in connection with the Federation of Australian Colonies and the establishment of the Commonwealth of Australia",[17][18] and was appointed secretary and Permanent Head of the Attorney-General's Department by the first Attorney-General of Australia, Alfred Deakin. Garran was the first, and for a time the only, public servant employed by the Government of Australia. Garran later said of this time that: