Department of Education (New South Wales)


The New South Wales Department of Education, a department of the Government of New South Wales, is responsible for the delivery and co-ordination of early childhood, primary school, secondary school, vocational education, adult, migrant and higher education in the state of New South Wales, Australia.
The department was previous known as the Department of Education and Training between December 1997 and April 2011, and the Department of Education and Communities between April 2011 and July 2015.
The department's powers are principally drawn from the.

Structure

The head of the department is its secretary, presently Mark Scott. The secretary reports to the Minister for Education and Early Childhood Learning, currently The Hon. Sarah Mitchell ; supported by the Minister for Skills and Tertiary Education, currently The Hon. Dr Geoff Lee. Ultimately the ministers are responsible to the Parliament of New South Wales.
With a budget of more than A$8 billion, over 2,240 schools with a total enrolments of almost one million students, the Department represents roughly one-quarter of the State's total budget each year.

Departmental leadership

NameTitleTerm startTerm endTime in office
William WillsSecretary of the Board of National Education12 February 1849October 1863-
William WilkinsSecretary of the Board of National EducationOctober 1863December 1866-
William WilkinsSecretary of the Council of EducationJanuary 186730 April 1880-
William WilkinsUnder-Secretary of the Department of Public Instruction1 May 188012 November 1884
Edwin JohnsonUnder-Secretary of the Department of Public Instruction13 November 188410 April 1894
John MaynardUnder-Secretary of the Department of Public Instruction10 April 18941 October 1903
Frederick Bridges Under-Secretary of the Department of Public Instruction1 October 19037 February 1905
Peter BoardDirector of Education8 February 190531 December 1922
Stephen SmithDirector of Education1 January 19231 August 1930
G. Ross ThomasDirector of Education2 August 193021 September 1940
John McKenzieDirector of Education22 September 194029 November 1952
Sir Harold WyndhamDirector-General of Education1 December 195231 December 1968
David VercoDirector-General of Education1 January 19693 July 1972
John BuggieDirector-General of Education4 July 197218 February 1977
Douglas SwanDirector-General of Education21 February 19778 July 1985
Robert WinderDirector-General of Education10 July 198529 April 1988
Fenton SharpeDirector-General of School Education30 April 198812 November 1991
Dr Ken BostonDirector-General of Education and Training
Managing Director of TAFE NSW		2 January 199212 July 2002
Jan McLellandDirector-General of Education and Training
Managing Director of TAFE NSW		22 October 200222 January 2004
Andrew Cappie-WoodDirector-General of Education and Training
Managing Director of TAFE NSW		22 January 200414 April 2007
Michael Coutts-TrotterDirector-General of Education and Training
Managing Director of TAFE NSW		14 April 200728 March 2011
Dr Michele BrunigesDirector-General of Education and Training
Managing Director of TAFE NSW		7 September 2011February 2014-
Dr Michele BrunigesDirector-General of Education and Communities
Managing Director of TAFE NSW		February 2014July 2015-
Dr Michele BrunigesSecretary of the Department of EducationJuly 20151 April 2016-
Peter Riordan Secretary of the Department of Education4 April 2016August 2016-
Mark ScottSecretary of the Department of EducationSeptember 2016incumbent

History

In 1957 a committee was appointed to survey secondary education in New South Wales to survey and report on the provision of full-time education for adolescents. The resulting report was known as the Wyndham Report.
in 1974, the Australian Capital Territory Schools Authority took over responsibility for nearly 60 government schools that were previously under the control of New South Wales.

Agencies administered