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).

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]

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^[update] 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]

• List of government schools in New South Wales
  • List of Government schools in New South Wales: A–F
  • List of Government schools in New South Wales: G–P
  • List of Government schools in New South Wales: Q–Z
• TAFE NSW

• Department of Education Building
• Department of Education