ABOUT SENATOR SMITH

Marielle Smith was elected as a Senator for South Australia on 18 May 2019 and was officially sworn into the 46th Parliament on 2 July 2019. Marielle is passionate about representing South Australian families. She has been an advocate for better early childhood education and care, the importance of standing up for rural and regional Australia and the crucial work of creating jobs and opportunities for South Australians of all backgrounds.

Marielle is a passionate advocate for delivering a fairer future for young Australians, to guarantee that fundamental Australian promise of delivering intergenerational fairness.

She is also a forceful campaigner for gender equality, standing up for the health, safety, and economic rights of women and the need to close the gender pay and superannuation earnings gaps between women and men.

Since entering Parliament, Marielle has campaigned on children’s safety, early education, South Australian jobs and the need to close the regional health divide in Australia, especially for women. Marielle serves on a number of committees and is currently the Chair of the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee, as well as being a member of the Senate Community Affairs References Committee, the Senate Standing Committee on Appropriations, Staffing and Security, the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties, the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters, the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, and the Joint Select Committee on Social Media and Australian Society.

Prior to entering Parliament, Marielle served on public and private boards and was a senior adviser to former Prime Minister Julia Gillard on gender and global education issues. Marielle has devoted much of her career towards delivering better policies that improve our State and Nation for the generations to come, as an international policy adviser in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, and as an early childhood education adviser to former Minister Kate Ellis MP. In 2012, Marielle lived in Ghana where she volunteered with a local NGO protecting children from forced trafficking and labour.

Marielle holds a Masters of Science with Distinction in Public Policy and Administration from the London School of Economics and a first class honours degree from the Australian National University.

Marielle lives in Adelaide with her husband, young son and, depending on the week, her three step-children.