senator Jana Stewarte Contact information

Jana Naretha Anne Stewart is an Australian Senator and former public servant, known for her advocacy for Aboriginal affairs and child protection. Born around 1987, Stewart is an Aboriginal Australian of the Muthi Muthi and Wamba-Wamba peoples, with a family history of custodianship over Lake Mungo in New South Wales. She grew up in Melbourne and Swan Hill, Victoria, as the oldest of six children and experienced family violence as a child.

Despite attending “at least a dozen” primary schools, Jana was the only Indigenous student at her high school to finish year 12. She went on to complete a master’s degree in clinical family therapy at La Trobe University. Prior to entering politics, Stewart worked as a family therapist, university lecturer, and policy adviser on Aboriginal affairs and child protection. She worked for Victorian state Aboriginal affairs minister Natalie Hutchins on treaty negotiations and later became a deputy secretary of the Victorian Department of Justice focusing on Stolen Generations reparations.

Jana is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and the Labor Unity faction, associated with the Transport Workers’ Union. In the 2019 federal election, she was preselected for the House of Representatives seat of Kooyong but placed third. She later won ALP preselection for the seat of Pascoe Vale at the 2022 Victorian state election but withdrew following her nomination to the Senate in March 2022.

In March 2022, Jana was nominated to fill a casual vacancy in the Senate caused by the death of Victorian senator Kimberley Kitching. She was officially appointed to the Senate at a joint sitting of the Victorian Parliament on 6 April 2022, becoming the youngest Aboriginal woman to serve in the federal parliament. Stewart also won ALP preselection for the Senate ticket at the 2022 federal election and took her seat after the election.

Jana is partnered with Marcus Stewart, Co-Chair of the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria, and they have two children, Jude and Ari. She is a dedicated advocate for Indigenous communities and has a strong record of public service, making her a respected and influential figure in Australian politics.