What is the Education Ministers Meeting?
The Education Ministers Meeting is a forum for collaboration and decision-making on:
- early childhood education and care
- school education
- higher education
- international education.
Australian, State and Territory government ministers responsible for education attend the meeting.
The Commonwealth Minister for Education is the Chair of the Education Ministers Meeting.
How often is the meeting?
The Education Ministers Meeting is generally held four times a year. In 2021, Education Ministers met on the following dates;
- 30 April 2021
- 2 July 2021
- 13 August 2021
- 3 September 2021
- 12 November 2021
In 2022, Education Ministers have so far met on;
- 4 February 2022
- 1 April 2022
The work priorities
In 2021, Education Ministers agreed to focus on the following three priorities:
- Progressing National Policy Initiatives under the current National School Reform Agreement:
- Unique Student Identifier
- Online Formative Assessment
- Progressing priority national school education initiatives, with a focus on the National Assessment Program-Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) and review of the Australian Curriculum
- Progressing decisions about future preschool education arrangements following consideration of the review of the Universal Access National Partnership.
Delivering the work priorities
The Australian Education Senior Officials Committee is the primary subcommittee of senior officials supporting the Education Ministers Meeting.
The committee is responsible to the Education Ministers Meeting for the execution of its decisions.
Ministerial authorities and companies
Five ministerial authorities and companies provide services for national education initiatives:
- The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) manages the national curriculum, the National Assessment Program, data collection and reporting.
- Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) administers the National Quality Framework (NQF).
- The Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO) commissions research on effective teaching and learning practices for teachers and school leaders across Australia.
- The Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) supports implementation of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers and the Australian Professional Standards for Principals, in partnership with jurisdictions.
- Education Services Australia (ESA) provides technology services for the education sector.
National education priorities
Commonwealth-State Relations
In May 2020 the Prime Minister announced that the former Council of Australian Governments (COAG) ceased. The new architecture for federal relations includes the Education Ministers Meeting.
Reports and Publications
This section contains reports that were endorsed through Education Ministers Meetings and a selection of relevant reports and publications transferred from the former Education Council website.
If you are unable to find a report that used to be available on the former website please contact EMMSupport@education.gov.au and we can provide you with a copy.
