Kaye Mary Darveniza (born 15 February 1955) is an Australian politician. She was a Labor Party member of the

Victorian Legislative Council The Victorian Legislative Council (VLC) is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The Legislative Co ...

from 1999 to 2014, first representing Melbourne West Province. In the 2006 Victoria State election, she transferred to the

Northern Victoria Region Northern Victoria Region is one of the eight electoral regions of Victoria, Australia, which elects five members to the Victorian Legislative Council (also referred to as the upper house) by proportional representation. The region was created i ...

and was re-elected. Darveniza was born in the town of

Mooroopna Mooroopna is a rural town located north of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is on the banks of the Goulburn River opposite the larger town of Shepparton. The Midland Highway crosses the river between the two towns. At the 2016 census, Moor ...

and educated in

Shepparton Shepparton () ( Yortayorta: ''Kanny-goopna'') is a city located on the floodplain of the Goulburn River in northern Victoria, Australia, approximately north-northeast of Melbourne. As of the 2021 census, the estimated population of Shepparton, ...

. She studied nursing, becoming a registered psychiatric nurse in 1975. She then left the workforce for six years, before returning in 1981. In 1986, Darveniza became involved with the trade union movement, becoming an organiser with the Health and Community Services Union. Three years later, she rose to become the union's state secretary—a position she held for ten years, until her election to parliament. She also acted as the national president of the Hospital Employees Federation of Australia from 1990 to 1991, and as the national vice president of the

Health Services Union The Health Services Union (HSU) is a specialist health union with around 90,000 members working in the healthcare and social assistance industries across Australia. The membership of the union includes doctors, and allied health professionals ...

of Australia from 1991 to 1999. At the 1999 state election, Darveniza shifted from the union movement into politics, winning Labor preselection for the seat of Melbourne West Province. After Labor won a surprise victory, the newly elected Darveniza was given a parliamentary secretary position. In her first term in office, she also served on both the Economic Development Committee and the Legislative Council Printing Committee from 1999 to 2002. Darveniza is the sister of South Australian Labor MP

Gail Gago Gail Elizabeth Gago (; born 4 July 1957) is a retired Australian politician, and a member of the Labor Party in the South Australian Legislative Council from the 2002 election until her retirement in 2018. Background Gago was born in Mooroo ...

.Parliament of Victoria Hansar

11 November 1999, p137. Darveniza 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.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Darveniza, Kaye 1955 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Victoria Members of the Victorian Legislative Council Australian trade unionists People from Mooroopna Women members of the Victorian Legislative Council 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians People educated at Star of the Sea College, Melbourne