Kate Rebecca Washington (born 1970) is an Australian politician who has served as Minister for Disability Inclusion and Families and Communities in the Minns

Government of New South Wales The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the executive state government of New South Wales, Australia. The government comprises 11 portfolios, led by a ministerial department and supported by several agencies. Th ...

since 2023. She was elected to 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 ...

as the member for Port Stephens for the

New South Wales Labor Party The New South Wales Labor Party, officially known as the Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch) and commonly referred to simply as NSW Labor, is the New South Wales branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). The branch is the current ...

at the

2015 New South Wales state election The 2015 New South Wales state election was held on Saturday 28 March 2015. Members were elected to all 93 seats in the Legislative Assembly using optional preferential voting. Members were also elected to 21 of the 42 seats in the Legislative ...

. Before entering parliament, Washington worked as a health lawyer. She has three children and lives in Lemon Tree Passage.

Political career

Washington first contested the seat of Port Stephens for the Labor Party at the 2011 election. She was not elected, with Labor losing the seat after a 12.4-point two-candidate swing against the party. Four years later, she won the seat with a two-candidate swing toward her of 19.5 points. Her electorate office is located in

Raymond Terrace Raymond Terrace, locally known as "Raymo” or "The Terrace", is a town in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, about by road north of Newcastle, New South Wales, Newcastle on the Pacific Highway, Australia, Pacific Highway. Establi ...

. During her first two terms, she served as a member of the Committee on the Health Care Complaints Commission. In 2016,

Jodie Harrison Jodie Elizabeth Harrison (born 1968) is an Australian politician who has represented the Charlestown Electorate in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for the Labor Party since 25 October 2014, when she was elected in a by-election. Pers ...

resigned from the Shadow Ministry of Luke Foley. Washington replaced her as Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Education, the Hunter and the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault on 19 January 2016. In a March 2016 reshuffle that occurred following the resignation of

Linda Burney Linda Jean Burney (born 25 April 1957) is an Australian Labor Party (ALP) politician who was the member of Parliament (MP) for the division of Barton from 2016 to 2025. She was the minister for Indigenous Australians from 2022 to July 2024. S ...

, she was replaced as Shadow Minister for Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault by

Jenny Aitchison Jennifer Kathleen Aitchison is an Australian politician who has served as Minister for Roads (New South Wales), Minister for Roads and Minister for Regional Transport in the Minns ministry since 2025. She previously served as Minister for Region ...

but retained the portfolios of Early Childhood Education and the Hunter until the

2019 New South Wales Labor Party leadership election An election for the leadership of the New South Wales Labor Party, New South Wales branch of the Australian Labor Party was held between 7 and 29 June 2019. The election was triggered by the resignation of Leader Michael Daley on 25 March 2019. T ...

in which

Jodi McKay Jodi Leyanne McKay (born 16 August 1969) is an Australian former politician who was the Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of New South Wales from June 2019 until May 2021. She previously served as a member of the New South Wales Legisla ...

was elected as Leader of the Opposition. She held the portfolios of Shadow Minister for Environment and Heritage and Shadow Minister for Rural Health from 2019 to 2021 in the McKay shadow ministry. Washington became the Shadow Minister for Family and Community Services and Shadow Minister for Disability Inclusion, following the

2021 New South Wales Labor Party leadership election An election for the leadership of the New South Wales Labor Party was held in June 2021, following the resignation of leader Jodi McKay on 28 May 2021. Nominations for the leadership opened at 11:00 AEST on 4 June 2021. Each candidate would have ...

. In the 2023 election, Washington retained her seat for a third term with a 13.3-point swing to the Labor Party in the electorate. Following the election she was appointed Minister for Family & Community Services and the Minister for Disability Inclusion in the Minns Labor Government.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Washington, Kate 1970 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 20th-century Australian lawyers University of Sydney alumni Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Australian lawyers 21st-century Australian politicians Women members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 21st-century Australian women lawyers 21st-century Australian women politicians Ministers for disability inclusion Ministers for families and communities