Linda was elected federal member for Barton in 2016, following a 14 year career in the NSW Parliament as Member for Canterbury. During her state political career she served as minister in a number of senior portfolios including as minister for Community Services and later as Deputy Leader of the Opposition.

Following her election to the Federal House of Representatives she was immediately appointed as Shadow Minister for Human Services. In 2018 she was appointed as Shadow Minister for Preventing Family Violence. In August 2018, Linda was promoted into Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Minister for Families and Social Services.

As a proud member of the Wiradjuri nation, Linda was the first Aboriginal person to be elected to the NSW Parliament and the first Aboriginal woman to serve in the Australian House of Representatives.  Linda’s commitment to Indigenous issues spans more than 30 years.

She began her career as a teacher in western Sydney and then as an education bureaucrat before being appointed Director General of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs in 2000.  Charles Sturt University awarded her, its first Aboriginal graduate, an Honorary Doctorate in Education in 2002.

Linda has a long held commitment the prevention of domestic violence and family violence and has detailed publicly her personal experience with it. 

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