Jacqueline Michelle Ann Lensink (born 20 February 1970) is an Australian politician representing the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia in the

South Australian Legislative Council The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the House of Assembly. It sits in Parli ...

since 26 June 2003. Lensink served as the Minister for Human Services in the Marshall Ministry between March 2018 and March 2022.

Background and early career

Lensink was educated at Stirling East Primary School and

Marryatville High School Marryatville High School (MHS) is a public state secondary school in Adelaide, South Australia. The school is situated on a large area of land in the eastern suburb of Marryatville, part of the City of Norwood Payneham and St Peters. First Cree ...

, before attending the

University of South Australia The University of South Australia (UniSA) is a public research university in the Australian state of South Australia. It is a founding member of the Australian Technology Network of universities, and is the largest university in South Australi ...

, where she graduated with a

Bachelor of Applied Science The Bachelor of Applied Science, often abbreviated as B.AS., BAS, BSAS, BASc, B.A.Sc., or BAppSc, is an undergraduate degree. There are also ''Bachelor of Arts and Science'' and ''Bachelor of Administration Science'' undergraduate degrees, also a ...

(Physiotherapy) in 1991. In 2003 she was awarded an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

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 ...

. From 1991 to 1994, Lensink worked as a physiotherapist at

Repatriation General Hospital, Daw Park The former Repatriation General Hospital, commonly referred to as The Repat or just Repat, was a hospital in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the inner-southern suburb of Daw Park. After complete closure in 2017, and followed by extensive r ...

, before moving into the political arena. From 1994 to 1996 she worked as the policy researcher to the federal member for Sturt, who at the time was also parliamentary secretary to the Shadow Minister for Social Security (with responsibility for Child Support policy), and from 1998 to 2002, she worked as ministerial adviser to the Hon. Robert Lawson . From 2002 to 2003 she worked as the executive officer of the Aged Care Association of Australia, SA (formerly ANHECA).

Political career

From 1991 to 1995, Lensink served as a member of the Young Liberal Executive, and in July 1995 she was elected South Australian Young Liberal President where she served for two years. In January 1996, she became the Federal Young Liberal Movement's Treasurer. In 2001 she was selected at number four on the Liberal Party's

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 ...

ticket for the 2001 federal election; however, did not achieve the necessary quota. Appointed to the Legislative Council in May 2003 following a casual vacancy caused by the resignation of

Diana Laidlaw Diana Vivienne Laidlaw (born 1951), commonly referred to as Di Laidlaw, is a former Australian Liberal politician. She was a member of the South Australian Legislative Council (1982–2003) and held several ministerial posts. Early life Lai ...

, Lensink was elected for a further eight-year term at the 2006 election and has subsequently held a number of shadow ministerial positions including shadow responsibility for mental health and substance abuse, security and infrastructure, gambling, government enterprises, consumer affairs, environment and conservation, sustainability and

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

, the status for women, and for youth. She was re-elected for another eight-year term at the 2014 election. She was at third position on the Liberal ticket in both elections. Since 26 January 2008, Lensink has also served as Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party in the Legislative Council.

References

External links

Official website
University of South Australia alumni Members of the South Australian Legislative Council University of Adelaide alumni Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of South Australia 1970 births Living people 21st-century Australian politicians Women members of the South Australian Legislative Council 21st-century Australian women politicians {{Australia-Liberal-politician-stub