Jane Diane Lomax-Smith, AM (born 19 June 1950, in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

) is an Australian politician and

histopathologist Histopathology (compound of three Greek words: ''histos'' "tissue", πάθος ''pathos'' "suffering", and -λογία ''-logia'' "study of") refers to the microscopic examination of tissue in order to study the manifestations of disease. Spe ...

who has been the Lord Mayor of the

City of Adelaide The City of Adelaide, also known as the Corporation of the City of Adelaide and Adelaide City Council is a local government area in the metropolitan area of greater Adelaide, South Australia and is legally defined as the capital city of South ...

since 14 November 2022. She was previously in local government for nine years (1991 to 2000), as a councillor for three terms and Lord Mayor of Adelaide for two terms (1997 to 2000). She was elected to the

South Australian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide. Overview The House of Assembly was creat ...

seat of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

representing the Labor Party from 2002 to 2010, and throughout this time was a Minister of Education and Tourism and a range of other portfolios. In 2010–2011, she was the Interim Director of the Royal Institution of Australia (RiAus). Since 2011, she has been the chair of the Board of the

South Australian Museum The South Australian Museum is a natural history museum and research institution in Adelaide, South Australia, founded in 1856 and owned by the Government of South Australia. It occupies a complex of buildings on North Terrace in the cultu ...

Early life and career

Lomax-Smith was born in Walthamstow in the

East End of London The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

, in the

. She attended the Woodford County High School

Grammar School A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

, and received a grant to attend the

London Hospital Medical College Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, commonly known as Barts or BL, is a medical school, medical and dental school in London, England. The school is part of Queen Mary University of London, a constituent college of the federal Un ...

, in

Whitechapel Whitechapel is a district in East London and the future administrative centre of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a part of the East End of London, east of Charing Cross. Part of the historic county of Middlesex, the area formed ...

, where she obtained her medical degree (BSc MBBS) and BSc(Hons). After migrating to Australia, she was made FRCPA (Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia) in 1984 and received a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

from the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

in 1985 on "IgA Nephropathy and Liver Disease". Before entering politics she was a

clinical pathologist Clinical pathology is a medical specialty that is concerned with the diagnosis of disease based on the Medical laboratory, laboratory analysis of bodily fluids, such as blood, urine, and tissue homogenates or extracts using the tools of clinic ...

medical researcher Medical research (or biomedical research), also known as experimental medicine, encompasses a wide array of research, extending from "basic research" (also called ''bench science'' or ''bench research''), – involving fundamental scientif ...

and

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

. In 2017 she was awarded an honorary DSc by the University of Adelaide.

Political career

Lomax-Smith first entered public office in 1991. She served as Lord Mayor of Adelaide in 1997–2000. At the 2002 state election she was elected a member of the

for the seat of Adelaide, defeating the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

candidate

Michael Harbison Michael John Henry Harbison was the Lord Mayor of Adelaide, South Australia from 2003 to 2010. He was succeeded by Stephen Yarwood in 2010. He is also Adelaide's longest serving mayor. Before becoming Lord Mayor, he was a successful businessm ...

, who had been preselected after the retirement of the Liberal Party incumbent Michael Armitage. She retained the seat at the 2006 election with a 60 percent two-party vote but was defeated at the 2010 election by Liberal candidate

Rachel Sanderson Rachel Sanderson is an Australian politician who represented the seat of Adelaide in the South Australian House of Assembly for the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia from the 2010 election to the 2022 election. Sande ...

, with a

two-party preferred In Australian politics, the two-party-preferred vote (TPP or 2PP) is the result of an election or opinion poll after preferences have been distributed to the highest two candidates, who in some cases can be independents. For the purposes of TPP, ...

swing of 14.5 percent, the second-largest swing at that election. She served as the South Australian State Minister for Education, Minister for Mental Health & Substance Abuse, Minister for Tourism, and Minister for the City of Adelaide between 2002 and 2010 in Premier Rann's Labor Government.

Later career

In October 2010 the

Federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

Minister for Tertiary Education,

Senator 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 ...

Chris Evans, announced a Higher Education Base Funding Review, to be chaired by Lomax-Smith. The review was released in December 2011. On 28 November 2010, the Royal Institution of Australia (RiAus) announced that Lomax-Smith was to act in the role of Director until a permanent appointment was made, but that she would not be an applicant for the permanent role. On 18 August 2011 Premier

Mike Rann Michael David Rann, , (born 5 January 1953) is an Australian former politician who was the 44th premier of South Australia from 2002 to 2011. He was later Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 2013 to 2014, and Australian am ...

announced that Lomax-Smith had been appointed as the new chair of the

board. She is on the Board of the Jam Factory, and TechInSA and in 2017 was made the Presiding Member of The South Australian Teachers Registration Board. From 2016–2017, Lomax-Smith had a position on the Advisory Board of

UCL Australia UCL Australia was an international campus of the University College London, located on Victoria Square in Adelaide, South Australia. It had three parts: the School of Energy and Resources (SERAus), the International Energy Policy Institute (IEP ...

. In 2015 she was commissioned by Premier

Jay Weatherill Jay Wilson Weatherill (born 3 April 1964) is an Australian politician who was the 45th Premier of South Australia, serving from 21 October 2011 until 19 March 2018. Weatherill represented the House of Assembly seat of Cheltenham as a member of ...

to examine options for the post coal-mining future of Leigh Creek, a purpose-built mining town in the Northern

Flinders Ranges The Flinders Ranges are the largest mountain range in South Australia, which starts about north of Adelaide. The ranges stretch for over from Port Pirie to Lake Callabonna. The Adnyamathanha people are the Aboriginal group who have inhabit ...

, and wrote a report entitled ''Leigh Creek Futures''. On 3 June 2020, Lomax-Smith was announced as new chair of the

Don Dunstan Foundation Donald Allan Dunstan (21 September 1926 – 6 February 1999) was an Australian politician who served as the 35th premier of South Australia from 1967 to 1968, and again from 1970 to 1979. He was a member of the House of Assembly (MHA) for th ...

, taking over from

Lynn Arnold Lynn Maurice Ferguson Arnold, AO (born 27 January 1949) is an Anglican priest and a former Australian politician, who represented the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party, serving as Premier of South Australia between 4 Septem ...

, who had held the position for 10 years and remains on the Board as Director and Patron. On 14 November 2022, Lomax-Smith defeated incumbent Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor and politician

Rex Patrick Rex Lyall Patrick (born 8 May 1967) is an Australian politician who served as a Senator for South Australia from November 2017 until June 2022. He was appointed to the Senate to fill a casual vacancy caused by the resignation of Nick Xenophon. ...

to become Lord Mayor of Adelaide again after 22 years.

Personal life

Lomax-Smith is married with two children, and splits her time between Adelaide and London.

References

External links

*
Personal Site of Jane Lomax-SmithAnalysis of Base Funding Review Panel Report
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lomax-Smith, Jane Mayors and Lord Mayors of Adelaide Members of the South Australian House of Assembly 1950 births Living people Women mayors of places in South Australia Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of South Australia 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians Women members of the South Australian House of Assembly Members of the Order of Australia