Andrea Mason (political candidate)
Australian politician
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Andrea Mason OAM[1] (born 1968[citation needed]) is an Australian former political candidate. At the 2004 federal election, she led the Family First Party, standing unsuccessfully as its lead Senate candidate in South Australia.[2][3] She gained notability as the first Aboriginal woman to lead an Australian political party to a federal election. Mason was the coordinator, now known as the chief executive officer, of the Ngaanyatjarra, Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara Women's Council (NPYWC) from March 2015 to April 2019.
Andrea Mason | |
|---|---|
| |
| Leader of the Family First Party | |
| In office 2004–2005 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Steve Fielding |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1968 (age 57–58) |
| Party | Family First Party |
Background and career
Mason is the daughter of Ben Mason, an Aboriginal Christian pastor involved in the founding of the Aboriginal Evangelical Fellowship, she was born in Subiaco, Western Australia.[citation needed] She grew up in Western Australia before her family moved to Adelaide, South Australia in 1979.[citation needed] After completing her secondary education she was awarded a Netball Scholarship at the Australian Institute of Sport and moved to Canberra for two years. On her return to Adelaide, Mason studied for a Bachelor of Aboriginal Affairs and public administration at the South Australian Institute of Technology (now the University of South Australia).[1] She graduated in 1988, and from 1989 onwards she worked on housing and employment programs with the South Australian Public Service.[citation needed] In 1999, Mason commenced a Bachelor of Laws Degree at the University of Adelaide.[citation needed] Graduating in 2002, she began working for Andrew Evans, a member of the South Australian Legislative Council and leader of the South Australian branch of the Family First Party, as a personal assistant.[citation needed]
On 8 August 2004, Mason became the first-ever Indigenous Australian woman to lead an Australian political party, when the Family First Party chose her as its national leader.[4] She unsuccessfully contested the 2004 Australian federal election as the party's South Australian lead Australian Senate candidate.
In 2019, Mason was appointed to serve as a commissioner to the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability.[5]