Celia Monica Hammond (born 22 November 1968) is an Australian former politician and former academic who was a member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

from the 2019 federal election to the 2022 federal election. She was a member of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

and represented the

Division of Curtin The Division of Curtin is an Australian electoral division in Western Australia. History The division was created in 1949 and is named for John Curtin, who was Prime Minister of Australia from 1941 to 1945. Prior to its creation, much of th ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. She succeeded retiring Liberal MP

Julie Bishop Julie Isabel Bishop (born 17 July 1956) is an Australian former politician who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2013 to 2018 and deputy leader of the Liberal Party from 2007 to 2018. She was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Curtin ...

at the 2019 election and was defeated at the 2022 election by independent candidate

Kate Chaney Katherine Ella Chaney (born 21 January 1975) is an Australian independent politician, who was elected to the Australian House of Representatives at the 2022 Australian federal election, succeeding Liberal Party MP Celia Hammond in the divisi ...

. Hammond previously served as the

vice-chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, the chancellor ...

of the

University of Notre Dame Australia The University of Notre Dame Australia (UNDA) is a national Roman Catholic private university with campuses in and in Western Australia and Sydney in New South Wales. The university also has eight clinical schools as part of its school of med ...

from 2008 to 2019.

Early life

Hammond was born in

Northam, Western Australia Northam () is a town in the Australian state of Western Australia, situated at the confluence of the Avon and Mortlock Rivers, about east-northeast of Perth in the Avon Valley. At the 2016 census, Northam had a population of 6,548. Northa ...

, and moved to the Perth suburb of City Beach at the age of 10. She studied law at the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany and various other facilitie ...

, graduating in 1991. Her father Kevin Hammond was the

Chief Judge A chief judge (also known as presiding judge, president judge or principal judge) is the highest-ranking or most senior member of a lower court or circuit court with more than one judge. According to the Federal judiciary of the United States, th ...

of the District Court of Western Australia.

Career

Hammond was admitted as a legal practitioner in 1992. She lectured at the University of Western Australia from 1994 to 1998, before accepting a position as a senior lecturer at the

's newly established Fremantle School of Law. She was subsequently promoted to professor and head of the law school, before being appointed

in 2008. She resigned the post in February 2019 to enter politics, although she had planned to retire later in the year.

Politics

In March 2019, Hammond won Liberal

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 presele ...

for the

, following the retirement of the sitting member

. She is considered to be more conservative than her predecessor. She retained the seat for the Liberals with a reduced majority. In a Parliamentary speech during October 2021, Celia Hammond outlined her experiences suffering

anorexia nervosa Anorexia nervosa, often referred to simply as anorexia, is an eating disorder characterized by low weight, food restriction, body image disturbance, fear of gaining weight, and an overpowering desire to be thin. ''Anorexia'' is a term of Gr ...

, over the course of a decade-long battle. She stated that, rather than seeking sympathy, she simply wanted to de-stigmatise the disease which affects so many young women and girls. Hammond was defeated at the 2022 election by independent candidate

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hammond, Celia 1968 births Living people Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Curtin Australian women lawyers University of Western Australia alumni University of Notre Dame Australia people People from Northam, Western Australia Heads of universities in Australia Australian Roman Catholics Women members of the Australian House of Representatives 21st-century Australian women politicians 21st-century Australian politicians