As at 30 June 2022, the department supports 3 ministers: the Hon. Natalie Hutchins MP, Minister for Education and Minister for Women; the Hon. Gayle Tierney MP, Minister for Training and Skills, Minister for Higher Education and Minister for Agriculture; and Ms Ingrid Stitt MP, Minister for Early Childhood and Pre-Prep and Minister for Workplace Safety. [1]
Minister for Education and Minister for Women – The Hon. Natalie Hutchins, MP
Minister Hutchins is the Member for Sydenham and was elected to the Victorian Parliament as the Member for Keilor in 2010. She has been Minister for Education and Minister for Women since June 2022.
Minister Hutchins previously served as Minister for Local Government from December 2014 to September 2017, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Minister for Industrial Relations from December 2014 to December 2018, Minister for Women and Minister for Prevention of Family Violence from September 2017 to December 2018, and Minister for Crime Prevention, Minister for Corrections, Minister for Youth Justice and Minister for Victim Support from June 2020 to June 2022.
The Minister for Education oversees Victoria’s Education State reforms and is responsible for providing education to more than a million Victorian students. This portfolio includes government investment in school infrastructure and programs.
Minister for Training and Skills, Minister for Higher Education, and Minister for Agriculture – The Hon. Gayle Tierney, MP
Minister Tierney was elected to the Victorian Parliament as the Member for Western Victoria in 2006 and has held the office of Minister for Training and Skills since November 2016, Minister for Higher Education since November 2018 and Minister for Agriculture since June 2022. In 2020, Minister Tierney was appointed Deputy Leader of the Government in the Legislative Council.
Minister Tierney served as Minister for Corrections from November 2016 to December 2018, and previously served as the Cabinet Secretary and Deputy President of the Victorian Legislative Council. She was Deputy Chair of the Rural and Regional Parliamentary Committee from March 2007 to November 2010, and Deputy Chair of the Education and Training Parliamentary Committee from February 2010 to June 2013.
The Minister for Training and Skills is responsible for ensuring that Victoria’s VET and Adult Community Education systems play a key role in achieving the economic and social objectives of government, industry, local communities and individual learners.
The Minister for Higher Education administers legislation that establishes Victoria’s 8 public universities, their governing bodies and accountability requirements. The Minister for Higher Education is also responsible for developing policy related to higher education in Victoria and representing Victorian universities and higher education providers within government.
Minister for Early Childhood and Pre-Prep and Minister for Workplace Safety – Ms Ingrid Stitt, MP
Minister Stitt was elected to the Victorian Parliament as the Member for Western Metropolitan in 2018. She has been the Minister for Early Childhood and Pre-Prep and the Minister for Workplace Safety since September 2020.
The Minister for Early Childhood and Pre-Prep oversees Victoria’s kindergarten system, the staged rollout of universally funded Three-Year-Old Kindergarten and Pre-Prep, and early childhood education services, including for children with disability or developmental delay.
[1] The Hon. James Merlino, MP was the responsible Minister for Education from 1 July 2021 to 27 June 2022. This is reported and disclosed in Note 9.3 Responsible persons of the financial statements.
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