The Ministry of Education held responsibility for all primary, secondary and technical schools; colleges of advanced education; universities.

In 1986, as part of an overhaul of the State Education System, it was decided to abolish the Education Department and replace it with a Ministry of Education. The prevailing hierarchical system at the upper levels of the department were to be dismantled with the view of streamlining and reducing the costs of education administration. The proposed changes were based upon the recommendations of the Better Schools Report. Since the publication of the Report in January 1987, this agency was styled the Ministry of Education; however, the official change of title did not occur until the Education Act was amended by Parliament (July 1988).

The Ministry's name was changed to the Education Department of Western Australia in early 1994. The organisation now operates as the Department of Education and Training.

The Office of Non-Government Education was formally established as a department on 1 July 1994 as a direct outcome of the State Cabinet's decisions on the Report of the Review of Education and Training, chaired by Dr Robert Vickery. Non-government school responsibilities previously held by the Education Department and the Office of Education and Training were transferred to the new Office of Non-Government Education. The Office was responsible for the co-ordination and provision of advice on education policy, planning and funding in the non-government sector, and the registration of non-government schools.

The Office of Non-Government education ceased operations as a separate legal entity on 30 June 1996. Its responsibilities were assumed by the new Department of Education Services on 1 July 1996.