Roderick Gilmore Amon is an Australian politician who served as the member for

Pittwater Pittwater is a semi-mature tide dominated Ria, drowned valley estuary, located about north of the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia; being one of the bodies of water that separate greater Metropolitan Sydney from th ...

in 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 ...

from March 2023 until he was charged with child sex offences and resigned from parliament on 30 August 2024. He previously served as a councillor on

Northern Beaches Council The Northern Beaches Council is a local government areas of New South Wales, local government area located in the Northern Beaches region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The council was formed on 12 May 2016 after the a ...

from 2017 to 2023.

Early life and education

Roderick Gilmore Amon was born to Alexe and Guy Amon, who operated a Mona Vale small business for nearly twenty years. He has five siblings, including a twin sister. Amon attended Covenant Christian School in

Belrose Belrose is a suburb of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia 19 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council. Belrose is also considered to be part of ...

, and

Knox Grammar School Knox Grammar School is an independent Uniting Church day and boarding school for boys, located in Wahroonga, New South Wales, an Upper North Shore suburb of Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1924 by the Presbyterian Church of Australia as an all- ...

, before studying

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

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

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. ...

, graduating with first class honours in Law.

Career

Amon worked as a

paralegal A paralegal, also known as a legal assistant or paralegal specialist, is a legal professional who performs tasks that require knowledge of legal concepts but not the full expertise of a lawyer with an admission to practice law. The market for p ...

during university and was admitted as a solicitor in New South Wales. As a solicitor, he has specialised in family law. Amon has been a

volunteer firefighter A volunteer fire department (VFD) is a fire department of volunteers who perform fire suppression and other related emergency services for a local jurisdiction. Volunteer and retained (on-call) firefighters are expected to be on call to respond ...

since 2013 and was the president of the Davidson Volunteer Rural Fire Brigade from 2015 to 2018. A rugby union referee, Amon was due to officiate in the

Shute Shield The Shute Shield, currently known as the Charter Hall Shute Shield, is a semi-professional rugby union competition in Sydney, Australia. It is the premier club competition in New South Wales. The Shute Shield is awarded to the winning team fro ...

grand final on 31 August 2024 but was replaced on the day of his arrest for alleged child sex offences.

Politics

Amon was preselected as the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

's lead candidate for Narrabeen Ward on the newly-formed

for the 2017 local government elections. He was successful at being elected, with the Liberal ticket in Narrabeen Ward receiving 31.8% of the vote. He moved to Pittwater Ward for the 2021 local elections, where he was re-elected. In December 2022, Amon was preselected as the Liberal candidate for

at the 2023 state election, to replace retiring MP

Rob Stokes Robert Gordon Stokes (born 17 January 1971) is a retired Australian politician. Stokes served as the New South Wales Minister for Infrastructure, the Minister for Cities, and the Minister for Active Transport in the Perrottet ministry betwe ...

. Stokes and then-

premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

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 ...

did not support Amon's preselection for the seat, preferring a female candidate and concerned about a possible large swing to teal independent candidate Jacqui Scruby. Despite a 20.2% two-candidate-preferred vote swing against the Liberals and towards Scruby, Amon was elected on 25 March 2023. He resigned as a councillor two months later on 16 May, and was replaced via

countback The countback method is a way of filling casual vacancies in proportional voting systems. Casual vacancies are filled by re-examining the ballots from the previous election. The candidate who held the seat is eliminated, and the election is then r ...

by Karina Page. On 11 May 2023, he was appointed as the Shadow Assistant Minister for Youth, Housing, and Planning and Public Spaces.

Child sex charges

On 30 August 2024, Amon was charged with ten child sex offences, relating to the alleged sexual assault of a 13-year-old boy at Mona Vale in July 2017. The charges were "five counts of sexual intercourse with a person aged over 10 and under 14, two counts of attempted sexual intercourse with a child over 10 and under 14, two counts of indecent assault on a person under 16, and committing an act of indecency with a person under 16". After being charged, Amon resigned as a member of the Liberal Party. Several hours later, he was asked by

Opposition Leader The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

Mark Speakman Mark Raymond Speakman (born 6 November 1959) is an Australian politician. He has been a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly since 2011 New South Wales state election, 2011, representing Electoral district of Cronulla, Cronulla ...

to resign from parliament, which he did on the same day. His seat was won by Independent Jacqui Scruby in the 2024 Pittwater state by-election. Amon was listed to appear at Manly Local Court on 24 October 2024. On 15 May 2025, Amon was charged with breaching his bail conditions after failing to report to police as required.

References

External links

Rory Amon's official website
(archived 30 August 2024)
Rory Amon
on the Liberal Party website (archived 26 August 2024) {{DEFAULTSORT:Amon, Rory Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Australian politicians Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Northern Beaches Council Macquarie University alumni Australian solicitors People educated at Knox Grammar School