Catryna Louise Bilyk (; born 7 February 1959) is an Australian politician. She served as a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

for

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

from 2008 to 2025, representing the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

(ALP).

Early life

Bilyk was born in

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

. She worked as an industrial officer for the

Australian Services Union The Australian Services Union (formally registered as the Australian Municipal, Administrative, Clerical and Services Union) is a trade union representing workers in a variety of industries. The ASU is affiliated with the Australian Council ...

, a researcher for psychiatric pioneer

Eric Cunningham Dax Eric Cunningham Dax (18 May 1908 – 29 January 2008) was a British-born Australian psychiatrist. Career In England during the 1930s and 1940s, Dax worked with John Rawlings Rees, Francis Reitmann and other biological psychiatrists who advoc ...

, an early childhood educator, and an advisor to Tasmanian Labor Ministers

David Crean David Mackenzie Crean (born 21 November 1950, Melbourne) is a former Labor member of the Parliament of Tasmania. He is the son of former Deputy Prime Minister Frank Crean and brother to former Australian federal opposition leader Simon Crean ...

, Ken Bacon and David Llewellyn. She has also been ALP National Vice-president. She is married with two adult children.

Senate

Bilyk was elected to serve a six-year term in the Senate at the 2007 federal election, after being placed in the third position on the

n ticket. She was elected to the sixth Senate seat for Tasmania, on preferences distributed from

Andrew Wilkie Andrew Damien Wilkie (born 8 November 1961) is an Australian politician and independent federal member for Division of Clark, Clark (previously Division of Denison, Denison). Before entering politics Wilkie was an infantry officer in the Austr ...

, the

Australian Greens The Australian Greens, commonly referred to simply as the Greens, are a Left-wing politics, left-wing green party, green Australian List of political parties in Australia, political party. As of 2025, the Greens are the third largest politica ...

' second candidate for the Senate in Tasmania in the 2007 election. It was second time lucky for Bilyk, who had also been preselected in third spot on the Labor Senate ticket in Tasmania at the 2001 federal election, but failed to win a seat. On 27 February 2016, Bilyk announced that she supports

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

, having previously opposed it.

Cancer advocacy

In March 2008, as a senator-elect, Bilyk was diagnosed with two benign brain tumours, which were surgically removed. Her experience with brain tumours motivated her to raise funds for research to improve the survival rate for cancer. To date, events she has organised have raised over $120,000 for Cure Brain Cancer Foundation. On 6 December 2016, Bilyk was appointed chair of a newly-formed Senate Select Committee into funding for research into cancers with low survival rates. The committee has been tasked with inquiring into and reporting on "the impact of health research funding models on the availability of funding for research into cancers with low survival rates."

References

External links

Summary of parliamentary voting for Senator Catryna Bilyk on TheyVoteForYou.org.au
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bilyk, Catryna 1959 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Labor Right politicians Members of the Australian Senate for Tasmania Women members of the Australian Senate 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians National Library of Australia Council members