Gareth James Ward is an Australian politician who was the

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Minister for Families, Communities and Disability Services The New South Wales Minister for Families and Communities is a Minister of the Crown, minister of the Government of New South Wales with responsibility for social policy and welfare, including matters relating to ageing, disability, multicultura ...

in the

second Berejiklian ministry The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of Un ...

from 2019 to 2021. Ward is a member of the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...

and has represented the seat of

Kiama Kiama may refer to: * Electoral district of Kiama, a seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly * Kiama, New South Wales, a town * Kiama (spider), a genus of spiders *Municipality of Kiama The Municipality of Kiama is a local government ar ...

since

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

. He was suspended from NSW parliament in March 2022 until the end of that term in March 2023, after being charged with sexual intercourse without consent, and indecent assault. Ward was also previously the Parliamentary Secretary for Education, in addition to his role as the Parliamentary Secretary for the Illawarra and South Coast from 2017 until 2019. Previously, Ward was a councilor on

Shoalhaven City Council The City of Shoalhaven is a Local government in Australia, local government area in the South Coast, New South Wales, South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. The area is about south of Sydney. The Princes Highway passes through the a ...

from 2004 until 2012. Ward was born with

albinism Albinism is the congenital absence of melanin in an animal or plant resulting in white hair, feathers, scales and skin and reddish pink or blue eyes. Individuals with the condition are referred to as albinos. Varied use and interpretation of ...

and is legally blind.

Early life

Ward was born in the

Illawarra The Illawarra is a coastal Regions of New South Wales, region in the southeast of the Australian state of New South Wales. It is situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the South Coast, New South Wales, South Coast region. It encompas ...

region and completed his schooling at Bomaderry High School. He holds degrees in

commerce Commerce is the organized Complex system, system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions that directly or indirectly contribute to the smooth, unhindered large-scale exchange (distribution through Financial transaction, transactiona ...

and

arts The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creativity, creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive ...

from the

University of Wollongong The University of Wollongong (UOW) is an Australian public university, public research university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, approximately south of Sydney. , the university had an enrolment of more than 33,000 s ...

and

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

from the

University of New England University of New England may refer to: * University of New England (Australia), in New South Wales, with about 26,000 students * University of New England (United States), in Biddeford, Maine, with about 6,000 students See also * New England Coll ...

, and a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...

from the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

. He holds a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice from 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 ...

, and is an Admitted Solicitor in the Supreme Court of NSW and the High Court of Australia. From 2001 to 2006, Ward was on the Council of the

Wollongong Undergraduate Students' Association The University of Wollongong Undergraduate Students' Association (known as WUSA, and its governing body the WUSA Council) is the principal student union at the University of Wollongong (UOW), New South Wales. Besides representing the campus stude ...

at the university, and was involved with the Australian Liberal Students Federation.

Political career

On 27 March 2004 Ward was elected to the

as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

councillor representing the northern parts of Shoalhaven. He was re-elected on 13 September 2008 and was appointed deputy mayor in the same month. On 12 April 2010, Ward was preselected as the Liberal candidate for Kiama. It was reported that he gained preselection in a 20–12 vote against the previous candidate, Ann Sudmalis. At the 2011 state election, Ward was elected with a swing of 19.4 points and won the seat with 57.5 per cent of the vote on a two-party basis. Ward's main opponent was the incumbent sitting Labor member and former Minister, Matt Brown. In April 2015, Ward was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary for the Illawarra and South Coast after Premier

Mike Baird Michael Bruce Baird (born 1 April 1968) is an Australian investment banker and former politician who was the 44th Premier of New South Wales, the Minister for Infrastructure, the Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney, Mini ...

abolished the former position of Minister for the Illawarra. In March 2017, Ward was appointed as the Parliamentary Secretary for Education. Ward retained his existing responsibilities as the Parliamentary Secretary for the Illawarra and South Coast. Following the 2019 state election Ward was appointed as

in the Second Berejiklian ministry. He is currently awaiting trial on charges of sexual and indecent assault. In February 2023 he announced that he would be contesting his seat as an independent at the 2023 state election, "to stand up for the principles and values that are worth fighting for". Ward was narrowly elected as an independent in the

2023 New South Wales state election The 2023 New South Wales state election was held on 25 March 2023 to elect the 58th Parliament of New South Wales, including all 93 seats in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, Legislative Assembly and 21 of the 42 seats in the New South ...

, suffering a 10.7% swing against him. The NSW government decided to follow the advice of parliament's privileges and ethics committee not to extend Ward's suspension into his new term.

Controversies and allegations

In September 2017 Ward claimed to have been the target of an attempted mugging in New York City while staying at the Intercontinental Hotel. Ward claimed to have booked a male masseur for a massage, which was reported as a "special massage". In conflicting reports, it was claimed he "called a phone number provided by an acquaintance", but others maintained that he ordered "the massage online from an outside service". When two men turned up and announced that both of them were minors, Ward told them to leave. He then claimed the duo became aggressive and demanded US$1000 before they would leave. While luring the men down to the lobby under the guise of retrieving money from an ATM, Ward alerted hotel staff and the men fled. CCTV images were circulated but no arrests have been made. In September 2018, Ward was described in federal parliament by his fellow Liberal colleague, Ann Sudmalis, as leading a campaign of "bullying, betrayal and backstabbing" against her while she was a representative. The allegations were expanded to include branch stacking of local Liberal branches, and installing people hostile to Sudmalis on her electoral committee. She described his determination as to "annihilate anyone who opposed him" with his motivation being "Gareth's narcissistic revenge". Sudmalis went on to accuse him of misogynistic behaviour and raised several examples of where he had actively opposed and campaigned against female Liberals on the South Coast. In July 2024, Ward arrived at Parliament House at 4 am to retrieve his spare house keys after locking himself out of his apartment at Potts Point. He denied being drunk or wearing only underwear. Premier

Chris Minns Christopher John Minns (born 17 September 1979) is an Australian politician serving as the 47th and current premier of New South Wales since March 2023. He has been the leader of the New South Wales branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) si ...

has asked for a full explanation.

Criminal charges

On 14 May 2021 Ward resigned from his portfolio and moved to the crossbench after identifying himself as the state MP subject to an inquiry by the child abuse and sex crimes squad of the

New South Wales Police Force The New South Wales Police Force is a law enforcement agency of the state of New South Wales, Australia, established in 1862. With more than 17,000 police officers, it is the largest police organisation in Australia, policing an area of 801,60 ...

. Ward has denied the allegations. On 22 March 2022 Ward was charged with three counts of indecent assault, one count of sexual intercourse without consent, and one alternate charge of common assault. He allegedly indecently assaulted a 18-year-old man at Meroo Meadow in February 2013 and sexually abused a 24-year-old man in Sydney in September 2015. Ward was granted conditional bail to appear at Port Kembla Local Court on 18 May. The NSW Premier,

Dominic Perrottet Dominic Francis Perrottet ; (born 21 September 1982) is an Australian politician who served as the 46th premier of New South Wales from 2021 to 2023. He held office as leader of the New South Wales division of the Liberal Party of Australia ...

, called for his resignation from Parliament and said that if Ward did not resign, the Government would move a motion to remove him from Parliament. On 24 March 2022, Ward was suspended from parliament after a motion to do so was passed unanimously in the Legislative Assembly. On 19 August 2022, Ward was committed to stand trial for sexual and indecent assault.

Trial

Ward's trial commenced in the Downing Centre District Court on 27 May 2025 before Judge Kara Shead. Ward pleaded not guilty to the three charges against him. The trial is expected to last three to four weeks.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Gareth Living people Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly New South Wales local councillors Blind politicians People with albinism University of Wollongong alumni 21st-century Australian politicians Year of birth missing (living people) Australian blind people Australian politicians with disabilities Ministers for disability inclusion Ministers for families and communities