Kay Patricia Setches (born 28 November 1944) is an Australian politician. She was a Labor Party member of the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the states and territories of Australia, state lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the state upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament H ...

from 1982 to 1992, representing the electorate of Ringwood. She was Minister for Conservation,

Forests A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological functio ...

and Lands from 1988 to 1990, Minister for Community Services from 1990 to 1992 and Minister Responsible for Child Care from 1991 to 1992. Setches was 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 ...

, and was educated at St Joseph's Collingwood, Cromwell Street State School, and the Collingwood School of Domestic Arts. She resided in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

from 1964, and was a shop assistant before entering politics. She joined the Labor Party in 1972 and was involved in a number of community organisations, including serving as co-ordinator of the Maroondah Halfway House Group, a women's refuge, from 1977 to 1978 and president of the Boronia Technical School Council from 1979 to 1983. She was also an advocate for the rights of people with intellectual disabilities. Setches was elected to the Legislative Assembly at the 1982 state election, defeating two-term Liberal MP Peter McArthur, and was re-elected in 1985 and 1988. She was promoted to the ministry in 1988 as Minister for Conservation,

and Lands, shifted to Minister for Community Services in 1990, and added the new portfolio of Minister Responsible for Child Care in 1991. Setches was minister during a period of significant change: she introduced mandatory reporting of child abuse, formally closed the notorious

Sunbury Asylum Sunbury Lunatic Asylum was a 19th-century mental health facility known as a lunatic asylum, located in Sunbury, Victoria, Australia, first opened in October 1879. Prior to being opened as an asylum, Sunbury was controlled by the Department of ...

however little was done to accommodate the insane who for the most part were left to roam the streets in places like St Kilda resulting in some being shot by police after turning violent, increased funding to

Kew Cottages Kew Cottages also known as Kew Children's Cottages and finally as Kew Residential Services is a decommissioned special development school and residential service located in Kew, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. History ...

, and advocated the outlawing of

surrogacy Surrogacy is an arrangement whereby a woman gets pregnant and gives birth on behalf of another person or couple who will become the child's legal parents after birth. People pursue surrogacy for a variety of reasons such as infertility, danger ...

. Her seat of Ringwood was abolished for the 1992 election and she contested and lost the new notionally Labor seat of

Bayswater Bayswater is an area in the City of Westminster in West London. It is a built-up district with a population density of 17,500 per square kilometre, and is located between Kensington Gardens to the south, Paddington to the north-east, and ...

as Labor were resoundingly defeated that year. In retirement, she was one of the co-founders of

EMILY's List Australia EMILY's List Australia is a political network in Australia that supports progressive Labor Party (ALP) women candidates seeking election to political office. Founded in 1996, EMILY's List Australia was inspired by EMILY's List, a political acti ...

, and was a board member of the Victorian Women's Trust and the Queen Victoria Women's Centre Trust. She was one of the inaugural additions to the Victorian Honour Roll of Women in 2001. She subsequently retired to Victoria Harbour at Docklands, and has spoken about planning issues in the area. Both of her children have been involved in Labor politics; her son, Earl Setches, is the secretary of the Plumbing Trades Employees Union, and her daughter, Vicki Setches, was the unsuccessful Labor candidate for

Kilsyth Kilsyth (; ) is a town and civil parishes in Scotland, civil parish in North Lanarkshire, roughly halfway between Glasgow and Stirling in Scotland. The estimated population is 10,380. The town is famous for the Battle of Kilsyth and the religi ...

at the 2010 state election. Three of her parliamentary advisers, Alan Griffin,

Gavin Jennings Gavin Wayne Jennings (born 18 April 1957) is an Australian politician. He was a Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Council from 1999 to 2020, representing Melbourne Province (1999–2006) and then the South Eastern Metropolitan R ...

and

Lynne Kosky Lynne Janice Kosky (2 September 1958 – 4 December 2014) was an Australian politician and senior minister in the Government of Victoria. She represented the electoral district of Altona in the Victorian Legislative Assembly for the Labor Par ...

, subsequently went on to political careers of their own as federal and state ministers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Setches, Kay 1944 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Victoria Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Women members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Members of the Order of Australia Politicians from Melbourne Ministers for forests (Victoria) Ministers for conservation (Victoria)