Department of Education (New South Wales)

New South Wales Department of Education
New South Wales Department of Education logo
Government Department overview
Formed1 July 2015 (2015-07-01) (Current)
1880; 144 years ago (1880) (First incarnation)
Preceding agencies
  • New South Wales Department of Education and Communities (2011–2015)
  • New South Wales Department of Education and Training (1997–2011)
JurisdictionNew South Wales
Headquarters105 Phillip Street, Parramatta, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Ministers responsible
Government Department executive
Key document
Websiteeducation.nsw.gov.au

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 preceded by the Board of National Education and Council of Education, and has been formerly known by a number of names, including Department of Public Instruction, the Department of Education and Training (DET) between December 1997 and April 2011, and the Department of Education and Communities (DEC) between April 2011 and July 2015.

The department's powers are principally drawn from the Education Act, 1990 (NSW).

History

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In 1889 the NSW Government took control of the Board of Technical Education, which was then governed by the Technical Education Branch of the Department of Public Instruction. After technical education developed into a state-wide TAFE NSW network of colleges, eventually a separate Department of Technical Education was established in 1949.[1]

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.[2]

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.[3]

The Department of Education and Training (DET) was created in December 1997, until being renamed in April 2011 as the Department of Education and Communities (DEC) until July 2015.[4][5]

Structure and governance

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The department's powers are principally drawn from the Education Act, 1990 (NSW).[6]

The head of the department is its secretary, as of June 2023 Murat Dizdar.[7]

The secretary reports to the Minister for Education and Early Learning, currently[when?] The Hon. Prue Car MP. Ultimately the ministers are responsible to the Parliament of New South Wales.[citation needed]

With a budget of more than A$8 billion,[when?] and over 2,240 schools with a total enrolment of almost one million students, the department represents roughly one-quarter of the State's total budget each year.[8]

Departmental leadership

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Name Title Term start Term end Time in office Notes
William Wills Secretary of the Board of National Education 12 February 1849 October 1863 14 years, 261 days
William Wilkins October 1863 December 1866 21 years, 12 days
Secretary of the Council of Education January 1867 30 April 1880
Under-Secretary of the Department of Public Instruction 1 May 1880 12 November 1884
Edwin Johnson 13 November 1884 10 April 1894 9 years, 148 days
John Maynard 10 April 1894 1 October 1903 9 years, 174 days
Frederick Bridges (acting) 1 October 1903 7 February 1905 1 year, 129 days
Peter Board Director of Education 8 February 1905 31 December 1922 17 years, 326 days
Stephen Henry Smith 1 January 1923 1 August 1930 7 years, 212 days
G(eorge) Ross Thomas 2 August 1930 21 September 1940 10 years, 50 days
John Gordon McKenzie 22 September 1940 29 November 1952 12 years, 68 days
Sir Harold Wyndham Director-General of Education 1 December 1952 31 December 1968 16 years, 30 days
David Verco 1 January 1969 3 July 1972 3 years, 184 days
John Buggie 4 July 1972 18 February 1977 4 years, 229 days
Douglas Swan 21 February 1977 8 July 1985 8 years, 137 days
Robert Winder 10 July 1985 29 April 1988 2 years, 294 days
Fenton Sharpe Director-General of School Education 30 April 1988 12 November 1991 3 years, 196 days
Ken Boston Director-General of Education and Training
Managing Director of TAFE NSW 		2 January 1992 12 July 2002 10 years, 191 days
Jan McLelland 22 October 2002 22 January 2004 1 year, 92 days
Andrew Cappie-Wood 22 January 2004 14 April 2007 3 years, 82 days
Michael Coutts-Trotter 14 April 2007 28 March 2011 3 years, 348 days
Michele Bruniges 7 September 2011 3 February 2014 4 years, 207 days
Director-General of Education and Communities
Managing Director of TAFE NSW 		3 February 2014 1 July 2015
Secretary of the Department of Education 1 July 2015 1 April 2016
Mark Scott 1 September 2016 23 April 2021
Georgina Harrisson 24 May 2021 (2021-05-24) 14 April 2023 (2023-04-14) 1 year, 325 days
Murat Dizdar 15 April 2023 (2023-04-15) incumbent 1 year, 208 days [9]

Agencies administered

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "TAFE NSW". Our history. 19 August 2012. Archived from the original on 20 January 2013. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
  2. ^ Wyndham, Harold Stanley (1957). "Report of the Committee Appointed to Survey Secondary Education in New South Wales". Parliamentary Paper (New South Wales. Parliament); 1957/49.
  3. ^ "Since World War II History of New South Wales government schools". Education NSW. Retrieved 2018-06-12.
  4. ^ "Department of Education and Training (1997–2011) Department of Education and Communities (2011–2015)". State Archives and Records Authority of New South Wales. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  5. ^ "Administrative Arrangements (Administrative Changes—Public Service Agencies) Order (No 2) 2015" (PDF). Legislation NSW. 27 May 2015. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  6. ^ "NSW Education Act 1990". Parliament of New South Wales. 1990. Retrieved 6 May 2007.
  7. ^ Carroll, Lucy (2023-06-08). "How a former garbage collector became the state's new schools boss". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2023-06-08.
  8. ^ "My Budget". NSW Budget 2018-19 | Latest NSW Budget. NSW government. n.d. "Where the money goes" tab. Retrieved 2019-05-30.
  9. ^ "Minns Government public service changes to tackle state's challenges". NSW Government. 14 April 2023.
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