Minister for Education and Early Learning

The New South Wales Minister for Education and Early Learning is a minister in the New South Wales Government and has responsibilities that includes all schools and institutes of higher education in New South Wales, Australia.[1][2]

Minister for Education and Early Learning
Incumbent
Prue Car
since 28 March 2023 (2023-03-28)
Department of Education
StyleThe Honourable
NominatorPremier of New South Wales
AppointerGovernor of New South Wales
PrecursorMinister of Justice and Public Instruction
Inaugural holderSir John Robertson
as Minister of Public Instruction
Formation1 May 1880
WebsiteDepartment of Education

Together, the ministers administer the portfolio through the Education cluster, in particular the Department of Education, TAFE NSW, and a range of other government agencies.

Ultimately, the ministers are responsible to the Parliament of New South Wales.

Office history

The role of administering the education system in New South Wales began with the passing by the New South Wales Legislative Council of the National Education Board Act 1848, which emulated the 'National' system of education established in Ireland by Lord Stanley in 1831 through the Stanley letter. The Act established the Board of National Education, a body corporate, with a Chairman of the Board appointed by the board members.[3] The Board was abolished by the colonial government of Henry Parkes in 1866 with the passing of the Public Schools Act 1866 and its functions were replaced by the Council of Education.[3]

Originally the bill for the act had included a measure to attach the role of President of the Council of Education ex officio to the Colonial Secretary. This measure was deleted in committee stage and the role of President was to be elected by the members of the council. This came to be seen by the first president, Parkes, as an indispensable way in which to protect the independence of the fledgling education system in the colony.[4] From 1873, with the independence of the role of President well established, the responsibility for education within the Parliament was held by the Minister of Justice and Public Instruction.

However this situation did not last and the independent council was abolished with the passing of the Public Instruction Act 1880 by Sir Henry Parkes' third government. The Act dissolved the Council of Education and transferred its responsibilities to a new Minister of Public Instruction, who had the role of establishing for the first time a well-structured system of public education throughout the colony. The Minister administered the portfolio through the Department of Public Instruction, which became the Department of Education in 1915.[5] In 2015 the functions of TAFE NSW were transferred from the education portfolio to the industry, portfolio only to return to the education portfolio in 2019.[6]

Predecessor offices and ministers

Board of National Education/Council of Education

The Chairman or President were not ministers of the crown, although all but John Smith were current or former members of parliament.[3] They were independent of ministerial supervision until the Minister of Justice and Public Instruction was appointed in December 1873.[7]

Office Office-holder[8] Term start Term end Time in office
Chairman of the Board of National Education John Plunkett 15 July 1848 1 February 1858 9 years, 201 days
Sir Charles Nicholson 1 February 1858 31 December 1858 333 days
George Holden 1 January 1859 31 December 1859 364 days
Sir Charles Nicholson 1 January 1860 31 December 1860 365 days
George Holden 1 January 1861 31 December 1866 5 years, 364 days
President of the Council of Education Henry Parkes 1 January 1867 14 October 1870 3 years, 286 days
John Smith 14 October 1870 14 July 1871 273 days
George Allen 14 July 1871 1 January 1872 171 days
John Smith 1 January 1872 30 April 1880 8 years, 120 days

Ministers of Justice and Public Instruction
Title Minister [9]Term startTerm endTime in officeNotes
Minister of Justice and Public Instruction George Allen MLA 9 December 1873 8 February 1875 1 year, 61 days [10]
Joseph Docker MLC 9 February 1875 21 March 1877 2 years, 40 days [11]
Francis Suttor MLA 22 March 1877 16 August 1877 147 days [12]
John Lackey MLA 17 August 1877 17 December 1877 122 days [13]
Joseph Leary MLA 18 December 1877 20 December 1878 1 year, 2 days [14]
Francis Suttor 21 December 1878 30 April 1880 1 year, 131 days [12]

List of ministers

The following individuals have been appointed Minister for Education and Early Childhood Learning or any previous titles.[9]

Ministers for Education
MinisterPartyTitleTerm startTerm endTime in officeNotes
Sir John Robertson None Minister of Public Instruction 1 May 1880 10 November 1881 101 days
Francis Suttor 14 November 1881 4 January 1883 1 year, 51 days [12]
George Reid 5 January 1883 6 March 1884 1 year, 61 days
William Trickett 2 May 1884 21 December 1885 1 year, 233 days
James Young 22 December 1885 25 February 1886 65 days
Arthur Renwick 26 February 1886 19 January 1887 327 days
James Inglis   Free Trade 20 January 1887 16 January 1889 1 year, 362 days
Francis Suttor   Protectionist 17 January 1889 7 March 1889 49 days [12]
Joseph Carruthers   Free Trade 8 March 1889 22 October 1891 2 years, 228 days
Francis Suttor   Protectionist 23 October 1891 2 August 1894 2 years, 283 days [12]
Jacob Garrard   Free Trade 3 August 1894 15 August 1898 4 years, 12 days
James Hogue 27 August 1898 13 September 1899 1 year, 17 days
John Perry   Protectionist / Progressive 14 September 1899 14 June 1904 4 years, 274 days
John Fegan   Free Trade 15 June 1904 29 August 1904 75 days
Broughton O'Conor   Liberal Reform 30 August 1904 13 May 1907 2 years, 256 days
James Hogue 14 May 1907 20 October 1910 3 years, 159 days
George Beeby   Labor 21 October 1910 10 September 1911 324 days
Campbell Carmichael 11 September 1911 26 November 1911 76 days
Frederick Flowers 27 November 1911 29 February 1912 94 days
Campbell Carmichael 1 March 1912 5 March 1915 3 years, 4 days
William Holman 6 March 1915 15 March 1915 9 days
Arthur Griffith 15 March 1915 7 November 1916 1 year, 237 days
Augustus James   Nationalist 15 November 1916 12 April 1920 3 years, 149 days
Thomas Mutch   Labor 13 April 1920 20 December 1921 1 year, 251 days
Thomas Ley   Nationalist 20 December 1921 20 December 1921 7 hours
Thomas Mutch   Labor 20 December 1921 13 April 1922 114 days
Albert Bruntnell   Nationalist 13 April 1922 17 June 1925 3 years, 65 days
Thomas Mutch   Labor Minister for Education 17 June 1925 26 May 1927 1 year, 343 days
Billy Davies Minister of Public Instruction 27 May 1927 18 October 1927 144 days
David Drummond   Country Minister for Education 18 October 1927 3 November 1930 3 years, 16 days
Billy Davies   Labor 4 November 1930 15 October 1931 1 year, 191 days
  Labor (NSW) 15 October 1931 13 May 1932
David Drummond   Country 16 May 1932 13 May 1941 8 years, 362 days
Clive Evatt   Labor 13 May 1941 8 June 1944 3 years, 26 days
Robert Heffron 8 June 1944 31 May 1960 15 years, 358 days
Ernest Wetherell 31 May 1960 13 May 1965 4 years, 347 days
Sir Charles Cutler   Country 13 May 1965 19 June 1972 7 years, 37 days
Sir Eric Willis   Liberal 19 June 1972 23 January 1976 3 years, 218 days
Neil Pickard 23 January 1976 14 May 1976 112 days
Eric Bedford   Labor 14 May 1976 29 February 1980 3 years, 291 days
Paul Landa 29 February 1980 2 October 1981 1 year, 216 days
Ron Mulock 2 October 1981 10 February 1984 2 years, 131 days
Eric Bedford 10 February 1984 5 April 1984 55 days
Rodney Cavalier 5 April 1984 21 March 1988 3 years, 351 days
Terry Metherell   Liberal Minister for Education and Youth Affairs 25 March 1988 24 July 1990 2 years, 121 days
Virginia Chadwick Minister for School Education and Youth Affairs 24 July 1990 26 May 1993 4 years, 254 days
Minister for Education, Training and Youth Affairs 26 May 1993 4 April 1995
John Aquilina   Labor Minister for Education and Training 4 April 1995 21 November 2001 6 years, 231 days
John Watkins 21 November 2001 2 April 2003 1 year, 132 days
Andrew Refshauge 2 April 2003 21 January 2005 1 year, 294 days
Carmel Tebbutt 21 January 2005 2 April 2007 2 years, 71 days
John Della Bosca 2 April 2007 8 September 2008 1 year, 159 days
Verity Firth 8 September 2008 28 March 2011 2 years, 201 days
Adrian Piccoli   National Minister for Education 3 April 2011 30 January 2017 5 years, 302 days
Rob Stokes   Liberal 30 January 2017 23 March 2019 (2019-03-23) 2 years, 52 days
Sarah Mitchell   National Minister for Education and Early Childhood Learning 2 April 2019 (2019-04-02) 21 December 2021 (2021-12-21) 4 years, 207 days [1]
Minister for Education and Early Learning 21 December 2021 (2021-12-21) 28 March 2023 (2023-03-28) [2]
Prue Car   Labor 28 March 2023 (2023-03-28) incumbent 212 days

Former ministerial titles

Assistant ministers

Occasionally, an Assistant Minister for Education would be appointed to assist the minister and act as a deputy.[9]

Title MinisterPartyTerm startTerm endTime in officeNotes
Assistant Minister of Public Instruction Jack FitzGerald   Labor 4 April 1916 18 July 1916 105 days
Assistant Minister for Education Wal Fife   Liberal 13 May 1965 27 June 1967 2 years, 45 days
Assistant Minister for Education Bob Debus   Labor 4 July 1986 21 March 1988 11 years, 260 days
Assistant Minister for Education Kerry Chikarovski   Liberal 3 July 1992 26 May 1993 327 days
Assistant Minister for Education Victor Dominello   Liberal 23 April 2014 2 April 2015 344 days
Assistant Minister for Education
Minister for Early Childhood Education		 Leslie Williams   National 2 April 2015 30 January 2017 1 year, 303 days
Sarah Mitchell 30 January 2017 23 March 2019 (2019-03-23) 2 years, 52 days

See also

References
  1. Vukovic, Dom; Gerathy, Sarah; McDonald, Philippa (29 January 2017). "NSW Cabinet reshuffle: Premier Gladys Berejiklian announces big changes to front bench". ABC News. Australia. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  2. "Parliament, Ministerial, Courts and Police (662)" (PDF). Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. 21 December 2021.
  3. "AGY-90 Board of National Education". NSW State Records & Archives. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  4. Manzer, Ronald A. (2003). Educational Regimes and Anglo-American Democracy. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p. 389.
  5. "Department of Public Instruction (1880-1915) Department of Education (1915-1989) Department of School Education (1989-1997)". NSW State Records. NSW Government. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  6. "Administrative Arrangements (Administrative Changes—Public Service Agencies) Order 2019 [NSW] (159)" (PDF). Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. 2 April 2019. p. 7-8. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  7. "AGY-89 Council of Education". NSW State Records & Archives. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  8. "Government Schools of New South Wales form 1848 - Ministers". Department of Education. NSW Government. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  9. "Part 6 Ministries since 1856" (PDF). NSW Parliamentary Record. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  10. "Sir George Wigram Allen (1824-1885)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  11. "Mr Joseph Docker (1802–1884)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
  12. "Sir Francis Bathurst Suttor (1839-1915)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  13. "Sir John Lackey (1830-1903)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  14. "Mr Joseph Leary (1831-1881)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
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