Rachel Stephen-Smith (born 1971) is an Australian politician. She has been a

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

member of the

Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory (known in short as the ACT Legislative Assembly) is the unicameral legislature of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). It sits in the Legislative Assembly Building on Civic Sq ...

since 2016, representing the electorate of Kurrajong. Stephen-Smith grew up in O'Connor in Canberra's inner-north and attended local schools such as Lyneham High. Following school, Stephen-Smith attended the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

and studied economics. Stephen-Smith previously worked as a senior public servant in the Australian Capital Territory public service, the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and as a Chief of Staff to Senator

Kim Carr Kim John Carr (born 2 July 1955) is an Australian former politician who served as a Senator for Victoria between 1993 and 2022. Representing the Labor Party, he was a minister in the Rudd and Gillard Governments. Carr is a graduate of the Un ...

. Stephen-Smith has also worked in

Washington DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

at the Australian Embassy. Following her election, Stephen-Smith was immediately appointed to cabinet, holding the following portfolios: Community Services and Social Inclusion; Disability, Children and Youth; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs; Multicultural Affairs; and Workplace Safety and Industrial Relations. After a Cabinet reshuffle in August 2018, Stephen-Smith lost the Multicultural Affairs and Community Services portfolios to new Cabinet member

Chris Steel Christopher James Steel (born 15 May 1986) is an Australian politician. He has been a Labor member of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly since 2016, representing the electorate of Murrumbidgee and currently serves as a Cabi ...

, gaining the Government Services and Procurement and Urban Renewal portfolios. In July 2019, Stephen-Smith gained the Health portfolio from

Meegan Fitzharris Meegan Fitzharris (born 1972) is a former Australian politician, who was a member of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly for the Yerrabi electorate from October 2016 to July 2019, and before that, member for the electorate of ...

who resigned from the Cabinet, but due to the increase of workload, she later relinquished the Disability and Workplace Safety portfolios to

Suzanne Orr Suzanne Patricia Orr (born 6 February 1982) is an Australian politician. She has been a Labor member of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly since October 2016, representing the electorate of Yerrabi. She worked as an urban pla ...

in August 2019.

References

, - 1971 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly Members of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly 21st-century Australian politicians Women members of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly 21st-century Australian women politicians {{Australia-Labor-politician-stub