Roberta McRae (born 6 September 1948 in Italy), former Australian politician, was a member of the

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multic ...

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 ...

from 1992 to 1998, elected to the multi-member single constituency Assembly and later elected to represent the multi-member electorate of

Ginninderra Ginninderra is the name of the former agricultural lands surrendered to urban development on the western and north-western fringes of Canberra, the capital of Australia. Ginninderra corresponds with the watershed of Ginninderra Creek, which is ...

for the Labor Party. A former teacher, following politics, McRae entered academia.

Biography

Teaching career

McRae was educated in Australia and trained as an infants' teacher at the Teachers' College in ,

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

and commenced teaching at , Victoria in 1970, before relocating to

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

. By 1972 she taught at primary schools in and . In 1973 McRae travelled to

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

with Australian Volunteers Abroad and taught English as a second language at the Mara Institute of Technology. She returned to Australia in 1974, gained employment as public servant in the

Department of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

and developed curriculum materials for the teaching of English as a second language (ESL) in Australian primary schools. From 1976 to 1989, McRae was employed by the Canberra College Technical and Further Education and the

University of Canberra The University of Canberra (UC) is a public research university with its main campus located in Bruce, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The campus is within walking distance of Westfield Belconnen, and from Canberra's Civic Centre. UC ...

to train ESL teachers and also completed a Graduate Diploma in Multicultural Studies at the

College of Advanced Education The College of Advanced Education (CAE) was a class of Australian tertiary education institution that existed from 1967 until the early 1990s. They ranked below universities, but above Colleges of Technical and Further Education (TAFE) which offer t ...

in ,

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts at 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 ...

in 1984. McRae worked as a speechwriter in the early days of the first ACT Administration, and in the

Australian Public Service Commission The Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) is a statutory agency of the Australian Government, within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, that acts to ensure the organisational and workforce capability to meet future needs a ...

where she managed a major review of the impact of

Equal Employment Opportunity Equal employment opportunity is equal opportunity to attain or maintain employment in a company, organization, or other institution. Examples of legislation to foster it or to protect it from eroding include the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity ...

programs on people of non-English speaking backgrounds.

Political career

McRae was initially elected to the second ACT Legislative Assembly at the 1992 general election, and elected to represent Ginninderra in the Assembly in 1995 general election. McRae contested the 1998 ACT general election, however was unsuccessful in retaining her seat. During her term in the Assembly, McRae served as

Speaker of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly The Speaker of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly is the presiding officer of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly, the unicameral legislature of the Australian Capital Territory. Speakers of the Australian C ...

, and was responsible for the successful 12 million project to create a permanent home of the Assembly.

Career after politics

McRae worked initially with the Education Network of Australia and then the

Department of Health and Aged Care The Department of Health and Aged Care (DHAC), formerly the Department of Health, is a department of the Australian Government responsible for health research, funding, promotion and regulation in Australia. Primary health care and aged care ...

as a deputy director. McRae returned to study and by 2003 had completed a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice at the Australian National University and graduated with a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

from

Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a public research university based in Sydney, Australia, in the suburb of Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of S ...

. She commenced employment as a lawyer specialising in residential and commercial property conveyancing and commercial law before teaching real estate and property law at the Australian National University on a casual basis. Since 2010 McRae has lectured in property law at the Australian National University, College of Law.

Honours

In 1990, McRae was awarded a Medal of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

for service to migrant assistance.

References