Sharon Catherine Claydon (born 26 April 1964) is an Australian politician. She has been a
Labor member of the
Australian House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Australian Senate, Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Austra ...
, representing the
Division of Newcastle in New South Wales, since September 2013.
Early life
Claydon was born on 26 April 1964 in
Camperdown, New South Wales.
Her father Kevin was an
Australian Army
The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...
soldier and she first attended school at
Holsworthy Barracks. He left the army shortly after completing a tour of duty in Vietnam in 1970. The family subsequently lived in
Bermagui for several years where she learned to ride horses, later moving to the
Newcastle suburb of
New Lambton Heights
New Lambton Heights is a List of suburbs in Greater Newcastle, New South Wales, suburb of Newcastle, New South Wales, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, located west of Newcastle's central business district. It is split between the City of L ...
where she attended
Lambton High School
Lambton High School (also known as New Lambton High School) is a government-funded co-educational comprehensive secondary day school, located in the suburb of Lambton in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia.
Established in 1974, the school ...
.
After leaving school, Claydon enrolled at the
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public university, public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one o ...
as an arts and law student. She left after two years to return to Newcastle, where through a job centre she found work at
Helen Springs Station in the
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Au ...
. She was recruited as a gardener but later worked as a
jillaroo and camp cook. After a few years, Claydon returned to New South Wales, where she worked for a disability service provider on the
South Coast. She later returned to university and completed an
honours degree
Honours degree has various meanings in the context of different degrees and education systems. Most commonly it refers to a variant of the undergraduate bachelor's degree containing a larger volume of material or a higher standard of study, or ...
majoring in anthropology. She subsequently began a PhD thesis on "contemporary political representation in the
Bunuba Aboriginal community", moving to
Fitzroy Crossing, Western Australia. She worked in remote Aboriginal communities "for the best part of decade" before returning to Newcastle.
[
]
Politics
Claydon joined the ALP in 1999 and worked as an electorate officer for federal MPs Allan Morris and Sharon Grierson
Sharon Joy Grierson (born 4 May 1951 in Newcastle, New South Wales) was educated at Newcastle Teachers College, and worked as a teacher and school principal before entering politics.
Grierson became a member of the Australian Labor Party, and ...
.[ She was a state conference delegate from 2002 and a national conference delegate from 2007. She also served on the state administrative committee and was a member of the national policy forum.][ In 2008, she was elected to the ]Newcastle City Council
Newcastle City Council is the local government authority for the city and metropolitan borough of Newcastle upon Tyne. The council consists of 78 councillors, three for each of the 26 wards in the city. It is currently controlled by the Labou ...
.[
]
Parliamentary career
In July 2012, Claydon announced she would run for ALP preselection
Preselection is the process by which a candidate is selected, usually by a political party, to contest an election for political office. It is also referred to as candidate selection. It is a fundamental function of political parties. The presel ...
in the seat of Newcastle following the retirement of Sharon Grierson. At the time she was described by the ''Newcastle Herald
The ''Newcastle Herald'' (formerly branded as ''The Herald'') is a local tabloid newspaper published daily, Monday to Saturday, in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. It is the only local newspaper that serves the greater Hunter Region and C ...
'' as "a popular figure in the local branches, particularly in the party's left faction, and is well connected with the ALP hierarchy after serving for several years on the powerful NSW Labor administrative committee". She was elected to the House of Representatives at the 2013 federal election.[
Claydon has been on the speaker's panel since 2015. She has also been deputy chair of the joint select committee into the ]National Redress Scheme
The National Redress Scheme (NRS) was established in 2018 by the Australian Government as a result of a recommendation by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. It aims to offer support to survivors of abuse suf ...
and the House standing committee on social policy and legal affairs.[ In this role, she has been an advocate for victims of institutional abuse, raising awareness that as of early 2021, only 51 people had received compensation payouts out of 2728 applications. She is a member of the Labor Left faction.
In July 2022, following the ALP's victory at the 2022 election, Claydon was chosen as the party's nominee for ]Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives
Deputy or depute may refer to:
* Steward (office)
* Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy"
* Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including:
** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spain, ...
.
Personal
Claydon is currently a patron of the Stockton Historical Society and has served as treasurer of the Newcastle Aboriginal Support Group.
References
External links
Official website
Parliament of Australia profile
*
*
Profile at TheyVoteForYou.org.au
{{DEFAULTSORT:Claydon, Sharon
1964 births
Living people
Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia
Australian anthropologists
Australian women anthropologists
New South Wales local councillors
Labor Left politicians
Members of the Australian House of Representatives
Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Newcastle
People from Newcastle, New South Wales
Women members of the Australian House of Representatives
21st-century Australian politicians
21st-century Australian women politicians
Women local councillors in Australia
University of Sydney alumni