Education is a 'state' issue, yet there is a federal 'Minister of Education & Training' why is that?

Thanks for your question.

Australia has three levels of government—federal, state and local—that work together to provide Australians with the services they need.

Some of the responsibilities of the federal, state/territory and local governments overlap but generally each level of government provides different services to Australians.

Education is a shared federal and state responsiblity. For example, the federal Minister for Education is responsible for areas such as childcare and university funding, international education and research. State education ministers is responsible for teacher training, school resourcing and curriculum.

For more information you can visit the federal Department of Education's website and the websites of state departments of education and compare their different areas of responsibility.

This diagram illustrates the three levels of government and the law-making bodies located around Australia.

Three levels of government in Australia.

Parliamentary Education Office (peo.gov.au)

Three levels of government in Australia.

This diagram illustrates the three levels of government and the law-making bodies located around Australia.

Parliamentary Education Office (peo.gov.au)

Description

This diagram illustrates the three levels of government—the law-making bodies in Australia with three maps of Australia: Local councils (located around Australia in each local council division); State/territory parliaments (located in the capital cities of each of the 6 states and 2 territories); and federal Parliament (located in Canberra, the nation's capital).

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