Adrian Piccoli (Italian: [ˈpikkoli]; born 24 March 1970) is a former Australian politician who represented the electoral district of Murray in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 2015 to 2017, and the district of Murrumbidgee from 1999 to 2015. He was the deputy leader of the Nationals in the New South Wales Parliament from 2008 to 2016. Piccoli served as the Minister for Education between April 2011 and January 2017, in both the O'Farrell and Baird ministries.

Of Italian descent, Piccoli was born in Griffith. He completed a Bachelor of Economics and a Bachelor of Laws at the Australian National University in 1993.

Prior to starting his political career, Piccoli worked as an irrigation rice farmer and solicitor. He is married, has two children, and is a Roman Catholic.

Following the election of the O’Farrell Government in 2011, Piccoli was appointed Minister for Education. He retained the role under Premier Mike Baird until January 2017.

As Minister, Piccoli spearheaded major reforms including the Great Teaching, Inspired Learning initiative and was a strong advocate for needs-based funding, aligning New South Wales with the principles of the Gonski reforms. His tenure was frequently described as collaborative and reform-driven, earning respect across party lines and among educators.

Piccoli’s performance received widespread positive recognition:

His leadership was also noted by professional organisations and the media as instrumental in embedding equity as a guiding principle of education policy in NSW.

As New South Wales Minister for Education (2011–2017), Adrian Piccoli played a pivotal role in securing and implementing the landmark Gonski school funding reforms, which aimed to establish a more equitable, needs-based model of educational funding across Australia.