Roberta McRae (born 6 September 1948 in Italy) is an Australian former politician who was a member of the

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory, known in short as the ACT Legislative Assembly, is the unicameral legislature of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). It sits in the Legislative Assembly Building, Canberra, Leg ...

from 1992 to 1998, elected to the multi-member single constituency Assembly and later elected to represent the multi-member electorate of

Ginninderra Ginninderra is the name of the former agricultural lands surrendered to urban development on the western and north-western fringes of Canberra, the capital of Australia. Ginninderra corresponds with the watershed of Ginninderra Creek, which ...

for the Labor Party. A former teacher, following politics, McRae entered academia.

Biography

Teaching career

McRae was educated in Australia and trained as an infants' teacher at the Teachers' College in ,

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

and commenced teaching at , Victoria in 1970, before relocating to

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

. By 1972 she taught at primary schools in and . In 1973 McRae travelled to

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

with Australian Volunteers Abroad and taught English as a second language at the Mara Institute of Technology. She returned to Australia in 1974, gained employment as public servant in the

Department of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

and developed curriculum materials for the teaching of English as a second language (ESL) in Australian primary schools. From 1976 to 1989, McRae was employed by the Canberra College Technical and Further Education and 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 ...

to train ESL teachers and also completed a Graduate Diploma in Multicultural Studies at the

College of Advanced Education The College of Advanced Education (CAE) was a class of Australian tertiary education institution that existed from 1967 until the early 1990s. They ranked below universities, but above Colleges of Technical and Further Education (TAFE) which offer ...

in ,

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 ...

and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts at 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 ...

in 1984. McRae worked as a speechwriter in the early days of the first ACT Administration, and in the

Australian Public Service Commission The Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) is a statutory agency of the Government of Australia, Australian Government, within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (Australia), Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, that ...

where she managed a major review of the impact of

Equal Employment Opportunity Equal employment opportunity is equal opportunity to attain or maintain employment in a company, organization, or other institution. Examples of legislation to foster it or to protect it from eroding include the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity ...

programs on people of non-English speaking backgrounds.

Political career

McRae was initially elected to the second ACT Legislative Assembly at the 1992 general election, and elected to represent Ginninderra in the Assembly in 1995 general election. McRae contested the 1998 ACT general election, however was unsuccessful in retaining her seat. During her term in the Assembly, McRae served as

Speaker of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly The Speaker of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly is the presiding officer of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly, the unicameral legislature of the Australian Capital Territory. List of Speakers Speakers D ...

, and was responsible for the successful 12 million project to create a permanent home of the Assembly.

Career after politics

McRae worked initially with the Education Network of Australia and then the

Department of Health and Aged Care The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, previously the Department of Health and Aged Care, is the Australian Government department responsible for funding and regulation of health care, aged care and some disability programs. It also ...

as a deputy director. McRae returned to study and by 2003 had completed a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice at the Australian National University and graduated with a

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

Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a Public university, public research university in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the Sydney metropolitan area. ...

. She commenced employment as a lawyer specialising in residential and commercial property conveyancing and commercial law before teaching real estate and property law at the Australian National University on a casual basis. Since 2010 McRae has lectured in property law at the Australian National University, College of Law.

Honours

In 1990, McRae was awarded a Medal of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

for service to migrant assistance.

References