Jana Naretha Anne Stewart (born c. 1987) is an Australian Senator and former public servant. She is a member of the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the f ...

(ALP).

Early life and education

Stewart is an

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...

of the

Muthi Muthi The Muthi Muthi people are an indigenous Australian people whose traditional lands are located in the Riverina, Northern Riverina and Far West (New South Wales), Far West regions of New South Wales. The Muthi Muthi are the traditional owners of ...

and

Wamba-Wamba The Wemba-Wemba are an Aboriginal Australian people in north-Western Victoria and south-western New South Wales, Australia, including in the Mallee and the Riverina regions. They are also known as the Wamba-Wamba. Language Wemba-Wemba bears ...

peoples. Her great-grandmother Alice Kelly was a custodian of Lake Mungo in New South Wales and was involved in negotiations over the Lake Mungo remains. Stewart was born in around 1987 and grew up in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

and

Swan Hill, Victoria Swan Hill is a city in the northwest of Victoria, Australia on the Murray Valley Highway and on the south bank of the Murray River, downstream from the junction of the Loddon River. At , Swan Hill had a population of 11,508. Indigenous Peopl ...

. She is the oldest of six children and experienced family violence as a child. She attended "at least a dozen" primary schools, and was the only Indigenous student at her high school to finish year 12. She completed a master's degree in clinical family therapy at

La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora. The university was established in 1964, becoming the third university in the state of Victoria an ...

Career

Prior to entering politics, Stewart worked as a family therapist, university lecturer, and policy adviser on Aboriginal affairs and child protection. She worked for Victorian state Aboriginal affairs minister

Natalie Hutchins Natalie Maree Hutchins (''née'' Sykes, born 9 March 1972), also known as Natalie Sykes-Hutchins, is an Australian politician. She has been a Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly since 2010, representing the electorates of ...

treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations An international organization or international o ...

negotiations. She was a later a deputy secretary of the Victorian Department of Justice focusing on Stolen Generations reparations.

Career prior to Senate

Stewart is a member of the

Labor Unity The Labor Right, also known as Modern Labor, is a political faction of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) at the national level that is characterised by being more economically conservative and, in some cases, more socially conservative. The Labor ...

faction and is associated with the Transport Workers' Union. At the 2019 federal election she was preselected for the House of Representatives seat of Kooyong. She placed third, with 17 percent of the vote on a negative swing of four points, behind incumbent federal treasurer Josh Frydenberg and

Greens Greens may refer to: *Leaf vegetables such as collard greens, mustard greens, spring greens, winter greens, spinach, etc. Politics Supranational * Green politics * Green party, political parties adhering to Green politics * Global Greens * Europ ...

candidate

Julian Burnside Julian William Kennedy Burnside (born 9 June 1949) is an Australian barrister, human rights and refugee advocate, and author. He practises principally in commercial litigation, trade practices and administrative law. He is known for his staunch ...

. In late 2021, Stewart won ALP preselection for the seat of

Pascoe Vale Pascoe Vale is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Merri-bek local government area. Pascoe Vale recorded a population of 18,171 at the 2021 census. History Pa ...

at the

2022 Victorian state election The 2022 Victorian state election was held on Saturday, 26 November 2022 to elect the 60th Parliament of Victoria. All 88 seats in the Legislative Assembly (lower house) and all 40 seats in the Legislative Council (upper house) were up for el ...

. She withdrew following her nomination to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

in March 2022.

Senate career

In March 2022, Stewart was nominated to fill a

casual vacancy In politics, a casual vacancy (''casual'' in the sense of "by chance") is a situation in which a seat in a deliberative assembly becomes vacant during that assembly's term. Casual vacancies may arise through the death, resignation or disqualifi ...

in the Senate caused by the death of Victorian senator

Kimberley Kitching Kimberley Jane Elizabeth Kitching (16 February 1970 – 10 March 2022) was an Australian politician, lawyer, and trade unionist. A member of the Australian Labor Party, Labor Party, she was a Australian Senate, Senator for Victoria (Australia), ...

. She also won ALP preselection for the Senate ticket at the 2022 federal election. She was officially appointed to the Senate at a joint sitting of the Victorian Parliament on 6 April 2022. However, the Senate did not sit between her appointment and the imminent election. Jana took her seat after the 2022 federal election. Stewart is the youngest Aboriginal woman to serve in the federal parliament.

Personal life

Jana is partnered with Marcus Stewart, Co-Chair of the First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria. She and her partner have two children, Jude and Ari.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Jana Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Labor Right politicians Members of the Australian Senate for Victoria Indigenous Australian politicians La Trobe University alumni Public servants of Victoria (Australia) Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Members of the Australian Senate People from Swan Hill