Hon. Linda Jean Burney

The Hon. Linda Jean Burney MP (b. 1957) is a Wiradjuri woman and was the first Aboriginal person to be elected to the New South Wales Parliament, in which she became Deputy Leader of the Opposition and held shadow portfolios including Family and Community Services, Aboriginal Affairs, and Sport and Recreation. In 2016 she resigned from her state post to run for the federal seat of Barton, and on her election she became the first Aboriginal woman to serve in the House of Representatives. Before being elected Member of the Legislative Assembly for Canterbury (NSW) in 2003, Burney worked as a teacher, education policy adviser and as Director General of the NSW Department of Aboriginal Affairs. She has been a member of the National Social Justice Task Force of ATSIC and the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation, and has represented Aboriginal Australians at the United Nations. Burney holds an honorary doctorate from Charles Sturt University and serves on a number of boards including those of SBS, the NSW Anti-Discrimination Board and the NSW Board of Studies. Burney was Shadow Minister for Human Services from 2016 to 2018 and was Shadow Minister for Preventing Family Violence from 2018 to 2019. Since 2018 she has been the Shadow Minister for Families and Social Services, and she was appointed Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians in June 2019.