Kay Janet Denman (born 22 July 1937) is an Australian politician. She was an

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 ...

member of the

Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives (Australia), House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter ...

for the state of

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

from 1993 to 2005. Denman was born in Latrobe, Tasmania and raised in Railton. She was educated at Railton Primary School and Devonport High School, before graduating with a Bachelor of Education and Diploma of Special Education from the

University of Tasmania The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College, one of the university's residential colleges, first pro ...

. She was a school teacher from 1958 to 1961, took a break in which she had two children, and returned to teaching from 1964 to 1989. Denman was then private secretary to

Premier of Tasmania The premier of Tasmania is the head of the executive government in the Australian state of Tasmania. By convention, the leader of the party or political grouping which has majority support in the House of Assembly is invited by the governor of Ta ...

Michael Field from 1989 to 1992 and manager of the Devonport Community Legal Centre in 1993. She was an inaugural member of the Mersey Leven Family Day Care committee, in which she was a strong advocate for access to day care for children with disabilities, and was also involved with Family Planning Tasmania. Denman joined the Labor Party in the early 1980s and was the president of the Labor Party's Devonport branch and a member of its

national executive National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

from 1990. Denman was appointed to the Senate in August 1993 to fill a casual vacancy caused by the resignation of Senator

Michael Tate Michael Carter Tate AO (born 6 July 1945) is a legal academic and former Australian Labor Party politician who later became an ambassador and then a Catholic priest. Early life and education Tate was born in Sydney in 1945. He was educated a ...

. She was Deputy Government Whip in the Senate from 1995 to 1996 and Deputy Opposition Whip in the Senate from 1997 to 2001. Denman was a long-running chair of the Senate Standing Committee on Senators' Interests between 1996 and 2005. She was re-elected in her own right at the 1998 election and retired at the 2004 election. Her term expired on 30 June 2005. She had a strong interest in health, education and access issues during her time in parliament, and was an advocate for people with disabilities,

asbestos Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere b ...

-related issues (her hometown of Railton had a major asbestos factory) and gay and lesbian rights. After retiring from politics, Denman was a board member of disability organisation Devonfield Enterprises, a member of the Tasmanian Community Advisory Group Mental Health Advisory Committee and the North-West Area Health Services Network Advisory Group, and was made a life member of the Tasmanian Council for AIDS and Related Diseases (TasCARD). She also continued her asbestos advocacy, stating that her only regret on retiring from the Senate was that she would not be there to further the cause of those with asbestos-related diseases. She was inducted to the Tasmanian Honour Roll of Women in 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Denman, Kay 1937 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian Senate Members of the Australian Senate for Tasmania Women members of the Australian Senate People from Latrobe, Tasmania 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians 20th-century Australian politicians 20th-century Australian women politicians