Nicola Roxon facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Nicola Roxon
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| Chair of HESTA | |
| Assumed office 2019 |
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| Attorney-General of Australia | |
| In office 14 December 2011 – 2 February 2013 |
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| Prime Minister | Julia Gillard |
| Preceded by | Robert McClelland |
| Succeeded by | Mark Dreyfus |
| Minister for Health and Ageing | |
| In office 3 December 2007 – 14 December 2011 |
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| Prime Minister | Kevin Rudd Julia Gillard |
| Preceded by | Tony Abbott |
| Succeeded by | Tanya Plibersek (Health) Mark Butler (Mental Health and Ageing) |
| Member of the Australian Parliament for Gellibrand |
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| In office 3 October 1998 – 5 August 2013 |
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| Preceded by | Ralph Willis |
| Succeeded by | Tim Watts |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1 April 1967 Sydney, Australia |
| Political party | Labor Party |
| Spouse | Michael Kerrisk |
| Children | 1 daughter |
| Alma mater | University of Melbourne |
Nicola Louise Roxon (born 1 April 1967) is an Australian former politician. She made history as Australia's first female Attorney-General. She also served as the Minister for Health. Roxon represented the area of Gellibrand in Victoria in the Australian Parliament for many years. After leaving politics, she has worked as a company director and in academic roles.
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Early Life and Education
Nicola Roxon was born in Sydney, New South Wales. She grew up with two sisters. Her family moved to Australia from Poland in 1937.
She went to the Methodist Ladies' College in Melbourne. Later, she studied at the University of Melbourne. She earned degrees in Arts and Law, even winning a special award for her law studies.
After university, Nicola Roxon worked for a judge in the High Court of Australia. She then joined a trade union as an organiser. Before entering politics, she was also a lawyer helping workers with their rights.
Becoming a Politician
Nicola Roxon was first elected to the Australian Parliament in 1998. She represented the area of Gellibrand for the Australian Labor Party. She served on several important committees in parliament.
After the 2001 election, she became a "Shadow Minister." This means she was part of the opposition party's team, preparing to take on important roles if her party won the next election. She was a Shadow Minister for areas like Child Care and Immigration.
In 2006, she became the Shadow Health Minister. When her party won the election in 2007, she became the actual Minister for Health and Ageing.
During the 2007 election campaign, Nicola Roxon was involved in a memorable moment. Her opponent, Tony Abbott, was late for a televised debate. Nicola Roxon handled the situation well, even joking about it.
Helping Australia's Health
As Minister for Health, Nicola Roxon worked on important health issues. In 2009, she tried to pass a law to increase tax on certain alcoholic drinks.
In 2010, she aimed to make big changes to Australia's health system. She even suggested holding a public vote to improve hospitals.
One of her most well-known achievements was her work on plain cigarette packaging. This meant that cigarette packets had to be plain, with no fancy branding, to make them less appealing.
Australia's Top Lawyer
In December 2011, Nicola Roxon was promoted to a new role. She became Australia's first woman to serve as the Attorney-General of Australia. This is a very important job, as the Attorney-General is the government's chief legal advisor.
In this role, she also took on the extra responsibility of Emergency Management. This meant helping to coordinate responses to natural disasters and other emergencies.
One of her decisions as Attorney-General involved a historical case from the Second Boer War. She announced that the Australian Government would not pardon certain soldiers because they were found to have killed unarmed prisoners.
Leaving Politics
Nicola Roxon resigned as Attorney-General in February 2013. She continued to serve as a regular Member of Parliament for a short time. She then retired from politics before the 2013 federal election.
After Politics
After leaving parliament, Nicola Roxon continued to contribute to public life. She became a professor at Victoria University. She also took on leadership roles, becoming the board chair for VicHealth and HESTA, which is a superannuation fund.
See also
- First Rudd Ministry
- First Gillard Ministry
- Second Gillard Ministry
