The New South Wales Minister for Education has responsibilities which includes all schools and TAFE colleges in NSW.

The current Minister for Education is Adrian Piccoli

Adrian Piccoli

Adrian Piccoli is an Australian politician representing the electoral district of Murrumbidgee in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. He is the Minister for Education in the O'Farrell Government and the Deputy Leader of the New South Wales Nationals.-Personal life:Piccoli was born in Griffith...

. He administers his portfolio through the Department of Education and Training.

List of Ministers

Minister	Party affiliation	Period	Ministerial title
John Plunkett John Plunkett John Hubert Plunkett was Attorney-General of New South Wales and elected as a member of the Legislative Assembly.-Early life:...	None	1848–1858	Chairman of the Board of National Education
Sir Charles Nicholson Charles Nicholson Sir Charles Nicholson, 1st Baronet was a British-Australian politician, university founder, explorer, pastoralist, antiquarian and philanthropist...		1858
George Holden George Holden George Holden was an Australian rules footballer who played for Fitzroy in the Victorian Football League ....		1859
Sir Charles Nicholson Charles Nicholson Sir Charles Nicholson, 1st Baronet was a British-Australian politician, university founder, explorer, pastoralist, antiquarian and philanthropist...		1860
George Holden		1861–1866
Henry Parkes Henry Parkes Sir Henry Parkes, GCMG was an Australian statesman, the "Father of Federation." As the earliest advocate of a Federal Council of the colonies of Australia, a precursor to the Federation of Australia, he was the most prominent of the Australian Founding Fathers.Parkes was described during his...		1867–1870	President of the Council of Education
John Smith		1870–1871
George Wigram Allen George Wigram Allen Sir George Wigram Allen KCMG was an Australian politician and philanthropist. He was Speaker in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 1875–1883....		1871–1872
John Smith		1872–1873
George Wigram Allen George Wigram Allen Sir George Wigram Allen KCMG was an Australian politician and philanthropist. He was Speaker in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 1875–1883....	None	1873–1875	Minister for Justice and Public Instruction
Joseph Docker		1875–1877
Francis Suttor		1877
John Lackey		1877
Joseph Leary Joseph Leary Joseph Leary , Australian politician, elected as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly.Leary was born in 1831 in Sydney, and was educated at St. Mary's Seminary, at Sydney College under Mr. Cape, and for two years at the Sydney University...		1877–1878
Francis Suttor		1878–1880
Sir John Robertson		1880–1881	Minister for Public Instruction
Francis Suttor		1881–1883
George Reid George Reid (Australian politician) Sir George Houstoun Reid, GCB, GCMG, KC was an Australian politician, Premier of New South Wales and the fourth Prime Minister of Australia....		1883–1884
William Trickett		1884–1885
James Young James Young James Young was a Scottish chemist best known for his method of distilling paraffin from coal.-Early life:James Young was born in the Drygate area of Glasgow, the son of John Young, a cabinetmaker and joiner...		1885–1886
Arthur Renwick Arthur Renwick Sir Arthur Renwick was an Australian physician, politician and philanthropist.-Early life:Renwick was born in Glasgow, Scotland, the son of George Renwick, a bricklayer, and his wife Christina, née Condie. His parents travelled as bounty immigrants aboard the Helen, arriving in Sydney, Australia...	Protectionist Protectionist Party The Protectionist Party was an Australian political party, formally organised from 1889 until 1909, with policies centred on protectionism. It argued that Australia needed protective tariffs to allow Australian industry to grow and provide employment. It had its greatest strength in Victoria and in...	1886–1887
James Inglis James Inglis James Inglis was a British man executed for murder at the age of 29.Having confessed to strangling Alice Morgan, a 50-year-old prostitute in Kingston upon Hull on 1 February 1951 after a quarrel over payment, Inglis opted to plead insanity at his trial...	Free Trade Free Trade Party The Free Trade Party which was officially known as the Australian Free Trade and Liberal Association, also referred to as the Revenue Tariff Party in some states and renamed the Anti-Socialist Party in 1906, was an Australian political party, formally organised between 1889 and 1909...	1887–1889
Francis Suttor	Protectionist	1889
Joseph Carruthers Joseph Carruthers Sir Joseph Hector McNeil Carruthers KCMG was an Australian politician and Premier of New South Wales.According to Percival Serle, few premiers of New South Wales succeeded in doing so much distinguished work...	Free Trade	1889–1891
Francis Suttor	Protectionist	1891–1894
Jacob Garrard	Free Trade	1894–1898
James Hogue James Hogue James Arthur Hogue is a US impostor who most famously entered Princeton University by posing as a self-taught orphan.-Early life:...		1898–1899
John Perry John Perry John Perry may refer to:*John Perry , English politician, MP for New Shoreham*John Perry , Irish engineer*John Perry , English musician, guitarist with The Only Ones...	Protectionist	1899–1904
John Fegan John Fegan John Lionel Fegan was an Australian politician.Fegan was born in Chelmsford, Essex, England and worked as a coalminer in Northern Wales and Lancashire from the age of 16. He married Ann Saggerson in February 1883 and they had one daughter and one son, but he abandoned them in 1896 to travel to...	Free Trade	1904–1905
Broughton O'Conor	Liberal Reform Liberal Reform Party (Australia) The Liberal Reform Party was an Australian political party, active in New South Wales state politics between 1901 and 1916. The question of tariff policy which, had created and divided the Free Trade Party and Protectionist Party in New South Wales in the 1890s, became a federal issue at the time...	1904–1907
James Hogue		1907–1910
George Beeby George Beeby Sir George Stephenson Beeby KBE was an Australian politician, judge and author.-Early life:Beeby was born in Alexandria, Sydney, New South Wales the second son of English-born Edward Augustus Beeby, a book-keeper, and his wife Isabel, née Thompson. Beeby was educated at Crown Street Public School...	Labor Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...	1910–1911
Ambrose Carmichael		1911
Frederick Flowers Frederick Flowers Frederick Flowers was a police magistrate.Flowers, third son of the Rev. Field Flowers, rector of Partney, Lincolnshire, 1815–18, was born at Boston, Lincolnshire in 1810, and educated at Louth Grammar School, Lincolnshire, from 1815 to 1818. His brothers included George French Flowers, composer...		1911–1912
Ambrose Carmichael		1912–1915
William Holman William Holman William Arthur Holman was an Australian Labor Party Premier of New South Wales, Australia, who split with the party on the conscription issue in 1916 during World War I, and immediately became Premier of a conservative Nationalist Party Government.-Early life:Holman was born in St Pancras, London,...		1915
Arthur Griffith Arthur Griffith Arthur Griffith was the founder and third leader of Sinn Féin. He served as President of Dáil Éireann from January to August 1922, and was head of the Irish delegation at the negotiations in London that produced the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921.-Early life:...		1915–1916
Augustus James	Nationalist Nationalist Party of Australia The Nationalist Party of Australia was an Australian political party. It was formed on 17 February 1917 from a merger between the conservative Commonwealth Liberal Party and the National Labor Party, the name given to the pro-conscription defectors from the Australian Labor Party led by Prime...	1916–1920
Thomas Mutch Thomas Mutch Thomas Davies Mutch was an Australian politician.Born in London to busdriver William Murdoch Mutch and Sarah Davies, he arrived in New South Wales in 1887 and was educated at Double Bay Public School...	Labor	1920–1921
Thomas Ley	Nationalist	1921
Thomas Mutch	Labor	1921–1922
Albert Bruntnell Albert Bruntnell Albert Bruntnell was an Australian politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1906 until his death and held a number of ministerial positions in the Government of New South Wales...	Nationalist	1922–1925
Thomas Mutch	Labor	1925–1927	Minister for Education
Billy Davies		1927	Minister for Public Instruction
David Drummond	Country	1927–1930	Minister for Education
Billy Davies	Labor	1930–1932
David Drummond	Country	1932–1941
Clive Evatt Clive Evatt Clive Evatt QC was an Australian politician, barrister and raconteur. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1939 until 1959. At various times he sat as a member of the Industrial Labor Party, ALP and as an independent.-Early life:Evatt was born in Maitland and was the...	Labor	1941–1944
Robert Heffron Robert Heffron Robert James "Bob" Heffron was one of the longest-serving New South Wales state parliamentarians. He was the Australian Labor Party Premier of New South Wales from 28 October 1959, to 30 April 1964.-Early years:...		1944–1960
Ernest Wetherell Ernest Wetherell The Hon. Ernest "Ern" Wetherell was an Australian politician and a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1949 until 1965...		1960–1965
Sir Charles Cutler Charles Cutler Sir Charles Benjamin Cutler KBE, ED was an Australian politician, holding office for 28 years as an elected member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for Orange...	Country	1965–1972
Sir Eric Willis Eric Willis Sir Eric Archibald Willis KBE, CMG was an Australian politician, Cabinet Minister and the 34th Premier of New South Wales, serving from 23 January 1976 to 14 May 1976. Born in Murwillumbah in 1922, Willis was educated at Murwillumbah High School and the University of Sydney, where he obtained a...	Liberal Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...	1972–1976
Neil Pickard Neil Pickard Neil Edward William Pickard was a New South Wales politician and Minister of the Crown in the cabinets of Sir Eric Willis and Nick Greiner...		1976
Eric Bedford Eric Bedford Eric Lance Bedford was an Australian politician, affiliated with the Australian Labor Party and elected as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly....	Labor	1976–1980
Paul Landa Paul Landa David Paul Landa, QC was an Australian politician. He was a Labor member of the New South Wales Legislative Council from 1973 to 1984, and the member for Peats in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in 1984...		1980–1981
Ron Mulock Ron Mulock Ronald Joseph "Ron" Mulock was an Australian politician and a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly.-Early years:...		1981–1984
Eric Bedford Eric Bedford Eric Lance Bedford was an Australian politician, affiliated with the Australian Labor Party and elected as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly....		1984
Rodney Cavalier Rodney Cavalier Rodney Mark Cavalier is a former New South Wales government Minister and the current Chairman of the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust....		1984–1988
Terry Metherell Terry Metherell Terry Alan Metherell is a former Australian politician who represented the Electoral district of Davidson in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1981 to 1992. When the Liberal Party won the 1988 election, Premier Nick Greiner appointed him Minister for Education and Youth Affairs, a...	Liberal	1988–1990	Minister for Education and Youth Affairs
Virginia Chadwick Virginia Chadwick Virginia Anne Chadwick AO was a Liberal Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council from 1978 to 1999...		1990–1993
		1992–1993	Minister for Education, Youth Affairs, Employment and Training
		1993–1995	Minister for Education, Training and Youth Affairs
John Aquilina John Aquilina John Joseph Aquilina , an Australian politician, is a former member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing the electorate of Blacktown between 1981 and 1991 and the electorate of Riverstone between 1991 and 2011 for the Australian Labor Party.Between 1986 and 1988 and again...	Labor	1995–2001	Minister for Education and Training
John Watkins John Watkins (Australian politician) John Arthur Watkins is a former Deputy Premier of New South Wales, serving between 2005 until his resignation from Parliament in 2008...		2001–2003
Andrew Refshauge Andrew Refshauge Andrew John Refshauge was an Australian politician and Deputy Premier of New South Wales from 1995 to 2005.Refshauge was born in Melbourne, the son of Major-General Sir William Refshauge AC CBE ED , who later became Honorary Physician to Queen Elizabeth II 1955–64 and Director-General of the...		2003–2005
Carmel Tebbutt Carmel Tebbutt Carmel Mary Tebbutt is an Australian politician. She is the Australian Labor Party Member for Marrickville in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly and was Deputy Premier of New South Wales from 2008 to 2011. She was also Minister for Health in the Keneally Government...		2005–2007
John Della Bosca John Della Bosca John Joseph Della Bosca is a former Australian politician, representing the Australian Labor Party in the New South Wales Legislative Council...		2007–2008
Verity Firth Verity Firth Verity Helen Firth is the Chief Executive Officer of the Public Education Foundation in Australia and a former politician....		2008–2011
Adrian Piccoli Adrian Piccoli Adrian Piccoli is an Australian politician representing the electoral district of Murrumbidgee in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. He is the Minister for Education in the O'Farrell Government and the Deputy Leader of the New South Wales Nationals.-Personal life:Piccoli was born in Griffith...	National National Party of Australia The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is...	2011–present	Minister for Education

Assistant Ministers

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

Minister	Party affiliation	Period	Ministerial title
John Daniel FitzGerald John Daniel FitzGerald John Daniel FitzGerald was an Australian politician.Born in Shellharbour to schoolteacher John Daniel FitzGerald and Mary Ann Cullen, he attended Shellharbour Public School, Fort Street Public School and St Mary's Cathedral School in Sydney before being apprenticed as a compositor in Bathurst...	Labor	1916	Assistant Minister for Public Instruction
Wallace Fife	Liberal	1965–1967	Assistant Minister for Education
Bob Debus Bob Debus Robert John "Bob" Debus AM , a former Australian politician, has been a member of the Australian House of Representatives and the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, representing the Australian Labor Party. Debus has been a minister in both the Australian and New South Wales governments...	Labor	1986–1988
Kerry Chikarovski Kerry Chikarovski Kerry Anne Chikarovski was leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. She served as Leader of the Opposition between 1998 and 2002....	Liberal	1992–1993

External links

• NSW Department of Education and Training Home Page
• Ministers' Website