The School of Mathematics and Statistics is divided into three departments: Applied Mathematics, Pure Mathematics and Statistics.

The Department of Applied Mathematics at UNSW specialises in Biomathematics, Computational Mathematics, Optimisation, Fluid Dynamics, Oceanography and Meteorology and Nonlinear Phenomena.

The Department of Pure Mathematics at UNSW specialises in Modern Analysis and its applications, Algebra, Discrete Mathematics, Number Theory and Mathematical Physics.

The Department of Statistics at UNSW specialises in Statistical Computing, Stochastic Processes and Statistical Inference.

The Climate Engineering and Dynamics Laboratory (CEDL)
at UNSW is a multi-disciplinary research group comprising one of Australia's largest University labs in climate science, oceanography, atmospheric sciences and meteorology.

CEDL houses research expertise in climate dynamics, global climate change, weather and climate extremes, large-scale physical oceanography, coastal ocean circulation, paleoclimate dynamics, the ocean's thermohaline circulation, ecosystem modelling, wave breaking and global biogeochemical cycles.

The Australian Research Council Centre for Excellence for Mathematics and Statistics of Complex Systems (MASCOS) comprises 13 Chief Investigators from The University of Melbourne, Australian National University, The University of New South Wales, The University of Queensland and La Trobe University, all of whom have international reputations for their research in mathematics and statistics.