The Minister for Education of Western Australia is the member of the Government of Western Australia

Government of Western Australia

The formation of the Government of Western Australia is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1890, although it has been amended many times since then...

 responsible for maintenance and improvement of Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

's system of education

Education

Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...

, and is answerable to the Parliament for all actions taken by the Department of Education and Training under their authority. The holder of the office is usually an elected member of parliament from the ruling party or coalition, although at present it is held by Independent MLA Liz Constable

Liz Constable

Dr Elizabeth Constable is an Independent member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, firstly representing the electorate of Floreat after winning it at a 1991 by-election following the resignation of Andrew Mensaros...

.

Until the Daglish Ministry

Daglish ministry

The Daglish Ministry was the 7th Ministry of the Government of Western Australia and was led by Labor Premier Henry Daglish. It succeeded the James Ministry on 10 August 1904 after the 1904 election boosted Labor's seat count from 8 to 22 in the 50-seat Legislative Assembly...

 in 1904, when the role was separately established, the responsibility for Education generally lay with the Colonial Secretary

Colonial Secretary of Western Australia

The Colonial Secretary of Western Australia was one of the most important and powerful public offices in Western Australia, in the time when Western Australia was a British colony. The Colonial Secretary was the representative of the British Colonial Office in Western Australia, and was usually...

.

Ministers for Education of Western Australia

Minister	Party	Assumed office	Left office	Term	Title
George Shenton George Shenton Sir George Shenton was a prominent businessman in colonial Western Australia, the first Mayor of Perth, and a Member of the Western Australian Legislative Council for over thirty years.-Early and family life:...	(Forrest)1	29 December 1890	11 October 1892		Colonial Secretary
Stephen Henry Parker Stephen Henry Parker Sir Stephen Henry Parker KCMG was a lawyer and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia from 1906 to 1914.-Early life:...	(Forrest)	11 October 1892	4 December 1894		Colonial Secretary
Sir John Forrest John Forrest Sir John Forrest GCMG was an Australian explorer, the first Premier of Western Australia and a cabinet minister in Australia's first federal parliament....	(Forrest)	4 December 1894	19 December 1894		Colonial Secretary
Edward Wittenoom Edward Wittenoom Sir Edward Charles Wittenoom KCMG was an Australian politician, member of the Western Australian Legislative Council for thirty four years.- Early life :...	(Forrest)	19 December 1894	12 May 1897
Henry Lefroy Henry Lefroy Sir Henry Bruce Lefroy KCMG was the eleventh Premier of Western Australia.-Biography:Lefroy was born in Perth, Western Australia on 24 March 1854. His father was Anthony O'Grady Lefroy, Colonial Treasurer of Western Australia for over 30 years...	(Forrest)	12 May 1897	28 April 1898
George Randell George Randell George Randell was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council from 1873–1875 and 1880–1890, then when representative self-government was achieved in 1890, won the seat of Moore in the new Legislative Assembly...	(Forrest)	28 April 1898	27 May 1901		Colonial Secretary
Frederick Illingworth Frederick Illingworth Frederick Illingworth , Australian politician, was a Member of Parliament in two Australian states, and a government minister in Western Australia...	Opposition1	27 May 1901	21 November 1901		Colonial Secretary
Matthew Moss	Ministerialist1	21 November 1901	23 December 1901		Colonial Secretary
Frederick Illingworth	Opposition1	23 December 1901	1 July 1902		Colonial Secretary
Walter Kingsmill Walter Kingsmill Sir Walter Kingsmill was an Australian politician.Born in Glenelg, South Australia, he was educated at St Peter's College in Adelaide and at the University of Adelaide before becoming a geologist. Moving to Western Australia in 1888, he became a mine manager...	Opposition	23 December 1901	1 July 1902		Colonial Secretary
Henry Daglish Henry Daglish Henry Daglish was the sixth Premier of Western Australia and the state's first Labor Premier.Henry Daglish was born in Ballarat West, Victoria on 18 November 1866. He was educated in Geelong, and attended Melbourne University...	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...	10 August 1904	7 June 1905
Thomas Bath	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...	7 June 1905	25 August 1905
Walter Kingsmill Walter Kingsmill Sir Walter Kingsmill was an Australian politician.Born in Glenelg, South Australia, he was educated at St Peter's College in Adelaide and at the University of Adelaide before becoming a geologist. Moving to Western Australia in 1888, he became a mine manager...	Ministerialist	25 August 1905	7 May 1906
Frank Wilson	Ministerialist	7 May 1906	30 June 1909
John Nanson	Ministerialist	30 June 1909	7 October 1911
Thomas Walker Thomas Walker (Australian politician) Thomas Walker was an Australian politician, a member of two different state parliaments.Walker was born in Preston, Lancashire, England, the son of corn miller and merchant Thomas Walker, and Ellen née Eccles. He was educated at Leyland Grammar School, then worked as a schoolteacher at Preston for...	Labor	7 October 1911	27 July 1916
Hal Colebatch Hal Colebatch Sir Harry Pateshall Colebatch CMG , better known as Sir Hal Colebatch, was a long-serving and occasionally controversial figure in Western Australian politics...	Liberal (WA) Western Australian Liberal Party (1911-1917) The Western Australian Liberal Party was a political party which existed from 1911 until 1917 in the Australian state of Western Australia. The Party, which had its roots in various earlier political movements, came together in the period immediately prior to the 1911 state election under the...  / 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...	27 July 1916	17 June 1923
John Ewing	Nationalist	18 June 1923	15 April 1924
John Drew	Labor	16 April 1924	24 April 1930
Norbert Keenan	Nationalist	23 May 1930	19 September 1931
Thomas Davy	Nationalist	19 September 1931	18 February 1933
Hubert Parker Hubert Parker Hubert Stanley Wyborn Parker DSO VD was an Australian politician who represented the Western Australian Legislative Assembly seat of North-East Fremantle from 1930 until 1933, and one of the three Legislative Council seats for Metropolitan-Suburban Province from 1934 until 1954...	Nationalist	24 February 1933	24 April 1933
John Willcock John Willcock John Collings Willcock was the 15th Premier of Western Australia.-Early life:John Willcock was born at Frogmoor , New South Wales on 9 August 1879. The son of miner Joseph Willcock, he was educated at Sydney High School before emigrating to Western Australia in 1897...	Labor	24 April 1933	26 March 1935
Harry Millington	Labor	26 March 1935	13 May 1936
Frank Wise Frank Wise Frank Joseph Scott Wise AO was an Australian Labor Party politician and the 16th Premier of Western Australia. He took office on 31 July 1945 in the closing stages of the Second World War, following the resignation of his predecessor due to ill health...	Labor	13 May 1936	18 April 1939
William Kitson	Labor	18 April 1939	9 December 1943
John Tonkin John Tonkin John Trezise Tonkin AC , popularly known as "Honest John", was the 20th Premier of Western Australia , taking power after the almost 12 year term of Liberal Sir David Brand....	Labor	9 December 1943	1 April 1947
Arthur Watts	Country National Party of Western Australia The National Party of Western Australia is a political party in Western Australia. It is affiliated with the National Party of Australia but maintains a separate structure and identity....	1 April 1947	23 February 1953
John Tonkin	Labor	23 February 1953	13 May 1954
Bill Hegney	Labor	13 May 1954	2 April 1959
Arthur Watts	Country	2 April 1959	1 February 1962
Edgar Lewis	Country	1 February 1962	3 March 1971
John Tonkin	Labor	3 March 1971	12 October 1971
Tom Evans	Labor	12 October 1971	30 May 1973
Jerry Dolan Jerry Dolan John "Jerry" Dolan was an Australian rules footballer and coach in the West Australian Football League before becoming a politician. He played for as well as coached East Fremantle and was also a coach at East Perth...	Labor	30 May 1973	8 April 1974
Graham MacKinnon	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...	8 April 1974	10 March 1977
Peter Jones	National National Party of Western Australia The National Party of Western Australia is a political party in Western Australia. It is affiliated with the National Party of Australia but maintains a separate structure and identity....  (NCP)	10 March 1977	5 March 1980
Bill Grayden Bill Grayden William Leonard "Bill" Grayden AM was an Australian politician. Born in Perth, Western Australia, he was educated at state schools and then at Perth Technical College, becoming a mechanical engineer. He served in the military from 1940-1946...	Liberal	5 March 1980	25 January 1982
Andrew Mensaros Andrew Mensaros Andrew Mensaros, , was a politician in Western Australia. Born in Hungary, and educated at the University of Budapest. A member of the Liberal Party of Australia, he served as a member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly for the division of Floreat from 1968 until his death in 1991...	Liberal	25 January 1982	25 February 1983
Bob Pearce Bob Pearce Robert John Pearce was an Australian politician, and a member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1977 until 1993 representing the seats of Gosnells and Armadale.-Biography:...	Labor	25 February 1983	25 February 1988
Dr Carmen Lawrence Carmen Lawrence Carmen Mary Lawrence is a retired Australian politician; a former Premier of Western Australia and the first woman to become Premier of a State of the Commonwealth of Australia....	Labor	25 February 1988	12 February 1990
Dr Geoff Gallop Geoff Gallop Geoffrey Ian Gallop, AC is an Australian academic and former politician. He was the Premier of Western Australia from 2001 to 2006. He currently resides in Sydney.-Early life and education:...	Labor	12 February 1990	5 February 1991
Kay Hallahan Kay Hallahan Elsie Kay Hallahan , commonly known as Kay Hallahan, is an Australian politician. A member of the Labor Party, she served as a minister in the Burke, Dowding and Lawrence ministries in Western Australia, and was the first woman ever to sit in both the Western Australian Legislative Assembly and the...	Labor	5 February 1991	16 February 1993
Norman Moore Norman Moore Norman Frederick Moore is an Australian politician. As of 2001, he has been the leader of the opposition in the Western Australian Legislative Council holding a seat for the Electoral region of Mining and Pastoral and has been the opposition spokesman for Mining and Resources...	Liberal	16 February 1993	21 December 1995
Colin Barnett Colin Barnett Colin James Barnett , Australian politician, is the leader of the Western Australian Liberal Party, the 29th and current Premier of Western Australia since the 2008 election and served as the Treasurer of Western Australia in 2010. He was sworn into office by Governor Ken Michael on 23 September 2008...	Liberal	21 December 1995	16 February 2001
Alan Carpenter Alan Carpenter Alan John Carpenter is a former Australian politician. He was the 28th Premier of Western Australia, serving from 2006 to 2008. He took office following the resignation of Dr Geoff Gallop...	Labor	16 February 2001	10 March 2005		Minister for Education and Training2
Ljiljanna Ravlich Ljiljanna Ravlich Ljiljanna Ravlich is a Western Australian politician. She is currently an Australian Labor Party member of the Western Australian Legislative Council, and was most notable for being the Minister for Education during the debate over the introduction of outcomes-based education...	Labor	10 March 2005	13 December 2006		Minister for Education and Training
Mark McGowan	Labor	13 December 2006	23 September 2008		Minister for Education and Training
Liz Constable Liz Constable Dr Elizabeth Constable is an Independent member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, firstly representing the electorate of Floreat after winning it at a 1991 by-election following the resignation of Andrew Mensaros...	Independent	23 September 2008	present

1. Politicians were not officially associated with organised parties
   Political party
   A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
   
   until 1904.
2. The position was known as Minister for Education until 14 January 2003, and Minister for Education and Training thereafter. See