The Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) was formed in June 1993, when the Council of Australian Governments

Council of Australian Governments

The Council of Australian Governments is an organisation consisting of the federal government, the governments of the six states and two mainland territories and the Australian Local Government Association. It was established in May 1992 after agreement by the then Prime Minister, Premiers and...

 (COAG) amalgamated with a number of ministerial councils to optimse the co-ordination of policy making across related portfolies. Three previously existing councils were merged, the Australian Education Council (AEC), the Council of Ministers of Vocational Education, Employment and Training (MOVEET), and the Youth Ministers Council (YMC), to form MCEETYA.

On July 2009 the Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs (MCEECDYA) was established following agreement of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) to a realignment of the roles and responsibilities of two previously existing councils

Committee

A committee is a type of small deliberative assembly that is usually intended to remain subordinate to another, larger deliberative assembly—which when organized so that action on committee requires a vote by all its entitled members, is called the "Committee of the Whole"...

— MCEETYA and the Ministerial Council for Vocational and Technical Education (MCVTE).

This decision resulted in the formation of two new Councils—MCEECDYA and the Ministerial Council for Tertiary Education and Employment (MCTEE).

Membership

Membership of the MCEECDYA comprises State, Territory, Australian Government and New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 Ministers with responsibility for the portfolios of school education, early childhood

Early childhood

For the video game rating with a similar age group see ESRBEarly childhood is a stage in human development. It generally includes toddlerhood and some time afterwards. Play age is an unspecific designation approximately within the scope of early childhood.-Education:Infants and toddlers experience...

 development and youth affairs, with Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...

, Norfolk Island

Norfolk Island

Norfolk Island is a small island in the Pacific Ocean located between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia. The island is part of the Commonwealth of Australia, but it enjoys a large degree of self-governance...

 and East Timor

East Timor

The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, commonly known as East Timor , is a state in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor...

having observer status