William Richard Shorten (born 12 May 1967) is an Australian former politician and trade unionist. He was the

leader of the Australian Labor Party The leader of the Australian Labor Party is the highest political office within the federal Australian Labor Party (ALP). Leaders of the party are chosen from among the sitting members of the parliamentary caucus either by members alone or wi ...

(ALP) and

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

from 2013 to 2019. He also served as a cabinet minister in the Gillard (2011–2013), Rudd (2013) and Albanese governments (2022–2025). Born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Shorten studied law at

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

. He worked in politics and in law before becoming an organiser with the

Australian Workers' Union The Australian Workers' Union (AWU) is one of Australia's largest and oldest trade unions. It traces its origins to unions founded in the pastoralism, pastoral and mining industries in the late 1880s and it currently has approximately 80,000 ...

(AWU) in 1994. He was elected state secretary of the Victorian Branch of the AWU in 1998 before becoming AWU national secretary in 2001. In this role, Shorten played a prominent role as a negotiator following the Beaconsfield Mine collapse in 2006, which first brought him to national prominence. Shorten was elected to the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

at the 2007 federal election, winning the seat of Maribyrnong, before being immediately appointed a Parliamentary Secretary. Following the 2010 election, he was promoted to the cabinet, serving first as Assistant Treasurer, then as Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation and Minister for Workplace Relations in

Julia Gillard Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is an Australian former politician who served as the 27th prime minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013. She held office as the leader of the Labor Party (ALP), having previously served as the ...

's government. After

Kevin Rudd Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian diplomat and former politician who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and June to September 2013. He held office as the Leaders of the Australian Labo ...

replaced Gillard as prime minister in June 2013, Shorten was briefly Minister for Education until the Labor Party's defeat at the 2013 election. During his time as a minister, Shorten was instrumental in the creation of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). After Rudd retired from politics, Shorten won a leadership election in October 2013 against

Anthony Albanese Anthony Norman Albanese ( or ; born 2 March 1963) is an Australian politician serving as the 31st and current prime minister of Australia since 2022. He has been the Leaders of the Australian Labor Party#Leader, leader of the Labor Party si ...

, and became leader of the Labor Party. He led Labor to a narrow loss at the 2016 election and then led Labor to an unexpected defeat at the 2019 election, after which he announced his resignation as leader, with Albanese being elected unopposed to replace him. Following Labor's victory at the 2022 election, Shorten was appointed as the Minister for Government Services and for the NDIS. Shorten is a senior figure within the

Labor Right The Labor Right (LR), also known as Labor Forum, Labor Unity or simply Unity, is one of the two major political factions within the Australian Labor Party (ALP). It is nationally characterised by social democratic to Third Way economic policies ...

. He is considered a

moderate Moderate is an ideological category which entails centrist views on a liberal-conservative spectrum. It may also designate a rejection of radical or extreme views, especially in regard to politics and religion. Political position Canad ...

member of the Labor Party. Shorten retired from politics in January 2025 in order to take up an appointment as

vice-chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth of Nati ...

of the

University of Canberra The University of Canberra (UC) is a public university, public research university with its main campus located in Bruce, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The campus is from Belconnen Town Centre, and from Canberra's Civic, Australian ...

from February 2025.

Early life

Birth and family background

Shorten was born on 12 May 1967 at St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne, the son of Ann Rosemary (née McGrath) and William Robert Shorten. He has a twin brother, Robert. According to a statement given during the 2017–18 dual citizenship scandal, Shorten held British citizenship by descent until 2006, when he renounced it in order to run for parliament. Shorten's mother was a university academic and lawyer who completed a doctorate at

and ended her career there as a senior lecturer in education. She completed a law degree later in life and practised as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

for six years. She was originally from

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) () is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Ballarat had a population of 111,973, making it the third-largest urban inland city in Australia and the third-largest city in Victoria. Within mo ...

, descended from "a long line of Irish Australians" who arrived during the

Victorian gold rush The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia, approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. It led to a period of extreme prosperity for the Australian colony and an influx of population growth and financial capi ...

. Shorten's father was a marine engineer born in

Tyneside Tyneside is a List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne, England, River Tyne in Northern England. The population of Tyneside as published in the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 774,891 ...

, England. After settling in Australia he worked as a manager at the Duke and Orr Dry Docks on Melbourne's

Yarra River The Yarra River or historically, the Yarra Yarra River, (Kulin languages: ''Berrern'', ''Birr-arrung'', ''Bay-ray-rung'', ''Birarang'', ''Birrarung'', and ''Wongete'') is a perennial river in south-central Victoria, Australia. The lower st ...

, where he was frequently in contact with union leaders. Shorten's parents divorced in 1988 and his father remarried a few years later. He subsequently became estranged from his father, who died in 2000.

Childhood

Shorten grew up in Melbourne's south-east, living in Hughesdale. He attended St Mary's Catholic Primary School in Malvern East. He and his brother were offered scholarships to De La Salle College, but their mother instead chose to send them to Xavier College, Kew. They began attending Kostka Hall, the college's junior campus, in 1977. Shorten was chosen for the state debating team in 1984, his final year at the school. He excelled at

fencing Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fe ...

and was the state under-15 champion in the

sabre A sabre or saber ( ) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the Early Modern warfare, early modern and Napoleonic period, Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such a ...

division.

University

In 1985, Shorten began studying at

and also joined the

Australian Army Reserve The Australian Army Reserve is a collective name given to the military reserve force, reserve units of the Australian Army. Since the Federation of Australia in 1901, the reserve military force has been known by many names, including the Citize ...

as a private, a position he held until 1987.Biography for SHORTEN, the Hon. William (Bill) Richard
Parliament of Australia; retrieved 7 March 2018. During his first years at university, he briefly worked in a butcher shop. Also active in student politics, both in the university's ALP Club and in Young Labor, he helped establish Network, a Labor Right-aligned faction of Young Labor; in 1986 it "took control of Young Labor from the Left for the first time". He volunteered in Senator Gareth Evans' office around this time as well. After the 1988 Victorian state election, Shorten was employed as a youth affairs adviser to Neil Pope, a Victorian government minister. He took a gap year in 1990, travelling overseas for the first time and backpacking through Central Europe. He was subsequently involved in Network's abortive attempt to take over the state branch of the Australian Theatrical and Amusement Employees' Association.

Labour movement

After graduating, Shorten worked for twenty months as a lawyer for Maurice Blackburn Cashman. In 1994, he began his union career as a trainee organiser under the

ACTU The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), originally the Australasian Council of Trade Unions, is the largest peak body representing workers in Australia. It is a national trade union centre of 46 affiliated trade union, unions and eight t ...

's Organising Works program at the

(AWU), before being elected Victorian state secretary in 1998. His time as secretary was marked by a reform of the union's structures. Shorten was elected as the AWU's national secretary in 2001 and was re-elected in 2005. He resigned as Victorian state secretary of the AWU in August 2007. He was an active member of the Labor Party and was a member of the party's national executive until 2011, as well as the administrative committee of the Victorian branch. He was also director of the Superannuation Trust of Australia (now Australian Super) and the Victorian Funds Management Corporation. From December 2005 until May 2008 he was the Victorian state president of the Labor Party. He was also a member of the

Australian Council of Trade Unions The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), originally the Australasian Council of Trade Unions, is the largest peak body representing workers in Australia. It is a national trade union centre of 46 affiliated trade union, unions and eight t ...

executive. Until early 2006, he was a board member of GetUp.org.au. During his time as AWU national secretary, Shorten was the interim chief executive of the Australian Netball Players Association (ANPA), following an alliance between the AWU and ANPA in 2005.Netballers join union for a better shot at fair pay
Sydney Morning Herald. Shorten also served on the advisory board of the Australian Cricketers' Association.The Hon Bill Shorten MP
, Q&A profile, ABC. Retrieved 26 September 2009.

Political career

Entry into politics

Prior to the 1996 federal election, aged 28, Shorten contested Labor

preselection Preselection is the process by which a candidate is selected, usually by a political party, to contest an election for political office. It is also referred to as candidate selection. It is a fundamental function of political parties. The presel ...

for the Division of Maribyrnong. He was defeated by Bob Sercombe, who went on to retain the seat for Labor at the election. In February 1998, Shorten won preselection for the safe Labor seat of Melton at the 1999 state election. He was not a resident of the electorate, located on the rural–urban fringe to Melbourne's north-west. He subsequently resigned as a candidate in order to become state secretary of the AWU. In 2005, Shorten announced that he would again seek preselection for the Division of Maribyrnong, challenging Sercombe (who was now a member of the Beazley shadow ministry). Justifying his challenge to an incumbent Labor MP, Shorten said, "...we haven't won a federal election since 1993. When your footy team loses four consecutive grand finals, you renew the team." On 28 February 2006, Sercombe announced that he was withdrawing his candidacy for re-selection, a few days before the vote of local members in which Shorten was expected to poll very strongly. As a result, Shorten was selected unopposed to contest the seat. Later in 2006, during the Beaconsfield Mine collapse, Shorten, as National Secretary of the AWU, played a role as a negotiator and commentator on developments in the immediate aftermath and the ensuing rescue operations. The mine rescue operations drew mass national media coverage, and raised Shorten's political profile ahead of the 2007 election.

First Rudd government

At the 2007 federal election, Shorten was elected to the

as the Labor MP for Maribyrnong. It was speculated that with his high public profile and general popularity within the Labor Party, he might immediately be given a front-bench portfolio; however, when asked about the possibility, new Prime Minister

said that he believed parliamentary experience was essential when designating front-bench portfolios. Instead, Rudd announced that Shorten would become Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Children's Services. As Parliamentary Secretary, Shorten pushed hard for the National Disability Insurance Scheme, something which was later to become a key policy of the Labor government.

Leadership spills

Shorten would later become one of the main factional leaders involved in the replacement of

as Prime Minister and Leader of the Labor Party with

in the 2010 leadership challenge. Following the 2010 federal election, there was speculation that Shorten might seek to oust Prime Minister Julia Gillard from her position within the year; former Labor Prime Minister Bob Hawke and former Labor Opposition Leader

Kim Beazley Kim Christian Beazley (born 14 December 1948) is an Australian former politician and diplomat. Since 2022 he has served as chairman of the Australian War Memorial. Previously, he was leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and Leader of the ...

had both previously endorsed Shorten as a potential future Labor Leader. Shorten denied this speculation, and was promoted to the Cabinet as Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation. In 2011, he was also given the position of Minister for Workplace Relations. Following a period of persistent leadership tensions, Shorten announced immediately before a June 2013 leadership ballot took place that he would back Rudd against Gillard, and would resign from the Cabinet should she win. Rudd subsequently won the ballot and became Prime Minister for a second time, appointing Shorten as Minister for Education, with particular responsibility for implementing the Gonski school funding reforms.

Election as leader

Following the defeat of the Labor government at the 2013 federal election, Kevin Rudd announced that he would stand down as Leader of the Labor Party. Shorten subsequently announced his candidacy to be his successor, in a contest with

that would be the first time party members would be eligible to vote. Shorten subsequently gained 63.9% of the party caucus vote and 40.8% of the rank-and-file members' vote, which when weighted equally gave Shorten a 52.02% victory over Albanese.

Leader of the Opposition

First term as leader

His first speech acknowledged the role of women in his election success. He distanced himself from

Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is an Australian former politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia and was the member of parli ...

's social conservatism, saying "I reject the assumption that merit is more located in the brains of men than women" and highlighting the proportion of women in Labor's leadership, with Tanya Plibersek as Deputy Leader and Penny Wong as Senate Opposition Leader. Shorten had been consistently polling better than Abbott and Labor better than the Abbott Coalition government from the July 2014 Australian federal budget until the September 2015 Liberal leadership ballot when

Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party an ...

succeeded Abbott as

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

. Turnbull's honeymoon polling soared above Shorten with the Turnbull Coalition government taking the lead over Labor. Brendan Nelson holds the record for lowest

Newspoll Newspoll is an Australian opinion polling brand, published by ''The Australian'' and administered by Australian polling firm Pyxis Polling & Insights. Pyxis is founded by the team led by Dr Campbell White, who redesigned Newspoll's methodology ...

"Better Prime Minister" rating of 7% (29 February-2 March 2008). Three leaders including Shorten hold the combined second-lowest rating of 14% – Simon Crean (28–30 November 2003),

(27–29 November 2009) and Shorten (4–6 December 2015). The December 2015 Newspoll saw a continued 53-47 two-party vote to the government, however Turnbull's personal ratings were significantly lessened, with personal approval down eight to 52% and personal disapproval up eight to 30%. Some media outlets opined Turnbull's honeymoon to be over. In early 2015, leading up to Australia Day, Shorten called for a new push for Australia to become a republic. Former ARM chair

said upon his appointment as Prime Minister in September of the same year he would not pursue "his dream" of Australia becoming a republic until after the end of the Queen's reign, instead focusing his efforts toward the economy. In July 2017, Shorten revealed that should the Labor Party be elected to government at the 2019 federal election, they would legislate for a compulsory plebiscite on the issue. Should that plebiscite be supported by a majority of Australians, a referendum would be held, asking the public for their support for a specific model of government. In 2015, Shorten said that the voting age should be lowered to 16.ABC News, 31 October 2015
Bill Shorten calls for voting age to be lowered to 16
/ref> In February 2016, Shorten called Cory Bernardi a " homophobe". In March 2016, Shorten committed that the party would oppose any effort to extend discrimination law exemptions to allow people who object to same-sex marriage to deny goods and services to same-sex couples.

2016 federal election

In 2016, Shorten led Labor to gain 14 seats at the federal election when

and the Liberal- National

Coalition A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...

retained

majority government A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in a legislature. Such a government can consist of one party that holds a majority on its own, or be a coalition government of multi ...

by a single seat. The result was the closest since the 1961 federal election.

2019 federal election

Shorten led Labor into the Australian federal election in 2019. Labor had led most polls for the better part of two years, and every major opinion poll projected a Labor victory. However, a number of factors, including third-party preferences in Queensland, allowed the Coalition–then led by

Scott Morrison Scott John Morrison (born 13 May 1968) is an Australian former politician who served as the 30th prime minister of Australia from 2018 to 2022. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party and was ...

–to a surprise election victory, and regain its parliamentary majority. Shorten conceded defeat on election night and subsequently announced he would step down as the leader of the Labor Party. In a post-election review commissioned by the Labor Party in November 2019, the loss was partially attributed to Shorten's personal unpopularity. A separate study by the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

found Shorten to be the least popular Labor leader since modern polling began, with his popularity representing "a historic low for any major party leader in recent times".

Post-leadership

Shorten announced his resignation as Leader of the Labor Party on 18 May 2019, following Labor's defeat in the 2019 election.

succeeded him as leader on 30 May, with Richard Marles as his deputy. After Albanese assumed the leadership, Shorten was appointed as part of the shadow cabinet, as shadow minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and for Government Services.

Albanese government

Following Labor's victory at the 2022 federal election, Shorten was sworn in as the Minister for the NDIS and Government Services on 1 June. In November 2022, Shorten vowed to crack down on NDIS "rorts", with the scheme having become rife with fraud. In August 2024, Shorten introduced legislation designed to cap the growth of the NDIS and bring in sweeping powers to investigate fraud, which Parliament passed with bipartisan support. Shorten led the Albanese government's response to the Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme, including by moving a motion of apology to the victims of the illegal scheme in August 2023. He also repeatedly lobbied for the names of the people who had been referred to other agencies for criminal or civil penalties to be made public, having been kept anonymous in the commission's final report. On 5 September 2024, Shorten announced his retirement from politics prior to the 2025 federal election. On that date, Shorten also announced his appointment as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Canberra, commencing in February 2025. Shorten resigned from Pariament on 20 January 2025.

Post-political career

Shorten was conferred as the University of Canberra's vice chancellor on 14 February 2025.

Personal life

In March 2000, Shorten married Debbie Beale, daughter of businessman and former Liberal MP Julian Beale. They divorced in 2008. In 2009, Shorten married Chloe Bryce, daughter of then

Governor-General Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

Quentin Bryce. The Shortens live in

Moonee Ponds Moonee Ponds is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Moonee Valley Local government ar ...

, Victoria with their daughter, as well as Chloe Shorten's other two children from her previous marriage to Brisbane architect Roger Parkin, who shares their parental responsibility. Shorten was raised Catholic, but converted to Anglicanism before his second marriage – as well as it being his wife's religion, he "had come to disagree with the atholicChurch on a number of issues". In 2014, Shorten publicly identified himself as the senior ALP figure at the centre of a 2013 allegation of rape, said to have occurred in 1986. Shorten strongly denied the allegations in a statement, which was made after

Victoria Police Victoria Police is the primary law enforcement agency of the Australian States and territories of Australia, state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. It was formed in 1853 and currently operates under the ''Victoria Police Act 2013''. , Victor ...

were advised from the Office of Public Prosecutions that there was no reasonable prospect of conviction.Grattan, Michelle. (24 August 2014).
Shorten outs himself as Labor figure in rape investigation
, '' The Conversation''. Retrieved 11 April 2019.

Notes

References

External links

Bill Shorten – Labor for MaribyrnongParliament of Australia – House of Representatives – The Hon Bill Shorten MPParliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Children's Services
* , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Shorten, Bill 1967 births Living people 21st-century Australian lawyers Australian Anglicans Australian chief executives Australian Council of Trade Unions people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Leaders of the opposition (Australia) Australian people of English descent Australian people of Irish descent Australian republicans Australian solicitors Australian trade unionists Converts to Anglicanism from Roman Catholicism Gillard government Labor Right politicians Lawyers from Melbourne Leaders of the Australian Labor Party Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Maribyrnong Members of the Cabinet of Australia Monash Law School alumni People educated at Xavier College People who lost British citizenship Politicians from Melbourne Rudd government Trade unionists from Melbourne Australian twins University of Melbourne alumni Albanese government People from the City of Monash Members of the Australian House of Representatives Australian MPs 2007–2010 Australian MPs 2010–2013 Australian MPs 2013–2016 Australian MPs 2016–2019 Australian MPs 2019–2022 Australian MPs 2022–2025 Ministers for education of Australia