Roslyn Dundas (born 28 July 1978) is a former Australian politician. She was an

Australian Democrats The Australian Democrats is a centrist political party in Australia. Founded in 1977 from a merger of the Australia Party and the New Liberal Movement, both of which were descended from Liberal Party dissenting splinter groups, it was Austral ...

member of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly from 2001 to 2004, when she was defeated in a bid for re-election. Until Kelly Vincent's election to the

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in 2010, Dundas was the youngest woman ever elected to an Australian parliament. Dundas was born and raised in Canberra, and studied at

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 an ...

. While there, she became heavily involved in both student politics and community organisations, becoming the ACT Co-ordinator of the Young Women's Electoral Lobby in 1998. She served on the Management Committee of the Women's Centre for Health Matters, and on the General Committee of the ACT Council of Social Service. In 2000, Dundas became the National Secretary of the Young Australian Democrats movement, and National Convenor of the Democrat Students. In the same year, she was also secretary of the university student body, a member of the party executive in the ACT, and the founding co-convenor of the Vida Women's Network - an attempt to form a Democrat version of

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. During the year, she also served on the Women's Committee of the National Union of Students. In September 2000 she unsuccessfully ran for President of the

Students' Association, as the leader of a combined Democrat/Liberal election ticket. Dundas worked as an organiser for the

Community and Public Sector Union CPSU, the Community and Public Sector Union (more commonly known as the CPSU) is a national trade union in Australia. The union came into existence on 1 July 1994 with the amalgamation of the Public Sector, Professional, Scientific, Research, ...

for several months in 2001, before gaining the top position on the Democrat ticket for the seat of Ginninderra in the ACT Legislative Assembly. She was subsequently elected, defeating conservative independent Dave Rugendyke. This made her the youngest woman elected to an Australian parliament, as well as the first Democrat to be elected in the ACT. Once elected to the Assembly, Dundas actively campaigned for increased government accountability, the environment, and women's rights. She supported a bill which liberalised the ACT's laws relating to

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...

, and introduced a Private Member's Bill supporting the use of

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. Roslyn Dundas stood in the left wing of the party, along with the likes of Senators

Natasha Stott Despoja Natasha Jessica Stott Despoja AO (born 9 September 1969) is an Australian politician, diplomat, advocate and author. She is the founding Chair of the Board of Our Watch, the national foundation to prevent violence against women and their childr ...

and

Brian Greig Brian Andrew Greig OAM (born 22 February 1966) is a former Australian politician. Grieg was an Australian Democrats member of the Australian Senate from 1999 to 2005, representing the state of Western Australia. Early life Greig was born in ...

. Over the next three years, she developed a significant public profile. She also preserved

Jon Stanhope Jonathan Donald Stanhope (born 29 April 1951) is a former Australian politician who was Labor Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory from 2001 to 2011. Stanhope represented the Ginninderra electorate in the ACT Legislative Assemb ...

's Labor Party government by downgrading a no-confidence motion to a censure motion. However, in 2004 Dundas lost the seat to the Labor Party's Mary Porter. After leaving the Legislative Assembly, Dundas worked as the ACT director of Ausdance. In late 2007 she became an advisor to the ACT Children and Young People's Commissioner. She took up the position of director of the ACT Council of Social Service in 2008. Dundas became the CEO of Ausdance in January 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dundas, Roslyn 1978 births Living people Australian Democrats members of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly Members of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly Women members of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly People from Canberra Australian National University alumni 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians