senator Janet Ricee Contact information

Janet Elizabeth Rice is an Australian politician who is a member of the Australian Greens party. She is also an environmentalist, facilitator, former councillor and mayor of Maribyrnong, and one of the founding members of the Victorian Greens. Rice was born on 18 November 1960 in Altona, a suburb of Melbourne, and attended the University of Melbourne where she studied Mathematics and Meteorology. It was during her time at university that she became involved in environmental activism, including participating in the Franklin Dam Campaign in 1983. Rice completed a Bachelor of Science degree with Honours in Meteorology.

Rice began her career in September 1983 as a Nature Conservation Project Officer for the Conservation Council of Victoria (now known as Environment Victoria), where she worked on policy and advocacy for nature conservation issues for two years. She then moved to the East Gippsland Coalition in 1985, where she worked as a forest campaigner and was a leader in the campaign that led to the declaration of the Errinundra National Park and protection of the old growth forests of the Rodger River catchment in the Snow River National Park in 1988. Rice continued her work with the East Gippsland Coalition until 1990.

Rice also worked as a Water Policy Officer at the Department of Water Resources from 1985-1986, where she authored reports on Gippsland Water Resource and South East Region water management strategy, as well as Environmental Aspects of Water Management Strategy for South West Victoria.

From 1993-1997, Rice worked for Bicycle Victoria as the inaugural Ride to Work Co-ordinator, where she developed the Ride to Work Day program which has since grown to an estimated 60,000 participants all over Australia. After leaving Bicycle Victoria, Rice worked as a Senior Consultant at Context Pty Ltd, where she worked with clients including Barwon Water, Melbourne Water, Parks Victoria, and a range of local governments. Rice then started her own facilitation and consultancy practice, Janet Rice Facilitation and Community Involvement. She was employed by the Hume City Council as their Senior Strategic Transport Planner.

Rice was also a Member of the School Council for Footscray City Primary School, becoming the President between 2002 and 2003, and is a Member of the advisory board at the Centre of Governance and Management of Public Transport.

Rice played a key role in establishing the Australian Greens Victoria, organising preliminary meetings and helping form the green politics network just as the October 1992 Victorian state election approached. The Victorian Greens were officially launched on 7 November 1992, and Rice was awarded Life Membership with the Australian Greens in 2002.

Rice began her political career when she was elected as the Greens Councillor for the city of Maribyrnong in 2003, where she represented the Saltwater ward. As a Councillor, Rice focused on Transport and Planning issues and was Chair of the Metropolitan Transport Forum between 2004 and 2008. Rice was elected Mayor of Maribyrnong in 2006, where she created the Maribyrnong Truck Action Group, which succeeded in banning trucks from entering central Footscray. Rice was also part of the Save Footscray Pool campaign, trying to preserve the aging facility and keep the site from developers. She remained in the council until 2008.

In 2008 and 2010, Rice worked with Greens Member for the Western Metropolitan Region, Colleen Hartland, managing community campaigns across Hartland’s electorate.

Rice was the lead Senate candidate for the Australian Greens Victoria for the 2013 Australian federal election and was elected with a 10.85 percent primary vote. She took her seat in the