NSW AMES is a controlled entity of the Department of Education and Communities and TAFE NSW and sits within the Community and Migrant Education directorate of the Department. The Director reports to the Deputy Director-General TAFE and Community Education. More information about the Department of Education and Communities is available on the department’s website information access page.

Who we are and what we do

NSW AMES was established in 1951 and has taught English to over 1.5 million people in the classroom, in the workplace, online and via distance education.

NSW AMES provides leadership in the field of quality language and literacy education through its course provision and resource and curriculum development.

NSW AMES is:

• managing the DET Consortia which delivers the Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP) in Northern Sydney, Hunter, Illawarra, Regional and Rural NSW.
• the largest publisher of Australian language and literacy resources and teaching materials
• renowned for the development and delivery of the Certificates I, II, III and IV in Spoken and Written English, the most widely taught national language and literacy curriculum framework in Australia
• internationally acclaimed for its range of innovative online courses

The work of NSW AMES is based on a set of values that informs all that we do: fairness, respect, integrity and responsibility. Our decision-making processes aim to fulfil the public interest and result in improvements to the quality of public education in New South Wales. Given this, we work closely with a variety of stakeholder groups to inform and discuss the development of major policies.

These key stakeholders include the Commonwealth Department of Immigration and Citizenship, community groups, the Community Relations Commission and the NSW Teachers Federation.

Types of information

As part of the Department of Education and Communities, NSW AMES operations are guided by the department’s strategic plans and general policies. NSW AMES activities are reported upon in the department’s annual reports to Parliament.

Information is contained in the following documents held by the department:

• Policy documents
• Parliamentary documents
• Disclosure log
• Contracts register
• Strategic planning documents
• Statistics and research

You can find out more about these documents by visiting the Department of Education and Communities website information access page.

In addition, information about student eligibility for our courses and working at NSW AMES is available on the AMES website as follows:

• Courses
• Working at NSW AMES

General information enquiries

For general enquiries relating to the Department of Education and Communities portfolio, including NSW AMES, and the location of policy documents please contact the Public Liaison Officer on phone (02) 9561 8999 or Email. Media enquiries should be directed to the Department of Education and Communities Media Unit on phone (02) 9561 8501 or Email.

Information available on informal request

A request may be made at any time for other information held by NSW AMES or the Department of Education and Communities. While NSW AMES reserves the right to require a formal access application to be made, it will generally provide the following types of information in response to an informal request, without the need to make a formal access application:

• Copies of correspondence, where the person requesting the correspondence was the person who sent it to the department
• Documents that contain only personal information about a particular individual, and that is the person who is requesting the information
• Documents that have already been made public in some other way
• Other reasonable requests for information the release of which would not raise any potential concerns in terms of public interests considerations against disclosure.

NSW AMES and the Department of Education and Communities reserve the right to impose conditions in relation to the use or disclosure of information that is released in response to an informal request.

Information available in response to an access application

An access application may be made for all other information held by the department, including NSW AMES (other than certain excluded information set out below). Access applications are subject to application fees and processing charges in accordance with the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009.

However, the department will not release information if it concludes that there is an overriding public interest against the disclosure of information.

You can find out how to make an access application by visiting the Department’s website - information access page.

Information which may not be disclosed

An access application cannot be made for information specifically excluded under Schedule 2 of the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009. For some categories of information, while an access application may be made, there is a presumption against release. The list of categories is set out at Schedule 1 of the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009.

Record of open access information not publicly available

NSW AMES is currently assessing policies which may not be appropriate for publication under open access due to an overriding public interest against disclosure. This list will be published as soon as possible.