Sophie Cotsis (; born 19 November 1973) is an Australian politician and current

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 Industrial Relations and Minister for Work Health and Safety in the

Minns ministry The Minns ministry is the 100th ministry of the Government of New South Wales, led by Chris Minns, the state's 47th Premier of New South Wales, premier following his party's victory in the 2023 New South Wales state election, 2023 state election ...

since April 2023. She was a

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

member of the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. Along with the New South Wales Legislative As ...

from 7 September 2010 to 16 September 2016, when she resigned in order to contest a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

for the Legislative Assembly seat of

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

Early life

The daughter of Greek migrants, Cotsis grew up in the St George district together with her brother. She was educated at Canterbury South Public School and at Kingsgrove High School before matriculating to

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. ...

, where Cotsis became a member of the university's Hellenic Studies Foundation and established a program that preserved the Greek language and Hellenic heritage at the university. Graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

from Macquarie University, Cotsis later completed a Master of Legal Studies at the

University of Technology, Sydney The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The university was founded in its current form in 1988, though its origins as a technical institution can be traced back t ...

Career

Prior to entering parliament Cotsis was a hospitality worker at

Sydney Airport Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport — colloquially Kingsford Smith Airport, Sydney Airport or Mascot Airport — is an international airport serving Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district, in the subu ...

, later becoming an official with the

Labor Council of New South Wales The Labor Council of New South Wales, branded Unions NSW, is the peak body for trade unions in the state of New South Wales, Australia. As of 2005 there are 67 unions and 8 Rural and Regional Trades & Labor Councils affiliated to the Labor Cou ...

and subsequently the

Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union United Voice was an Australian trade union from 1992 to 2019. It merged with the National Union of Workers to form the United Workers Union in 2019. United Voice was part of the Labor Left faction of the Australian Labor Party. The union was ...

. Cotsis joined the Labor Party in 1993, partly inspired by

Paul Keating Paul John Keating (born 18 January 1944) is an Australian former politician and trade unionist who served as the 24th prime minister of Australia from 1991 to 1996. He held office as the leader of the Labor Party (ALP), having previously ser ...

. She later became an adviser to former New South Wales Treasurer Michael Costa until March 2008, when she became an adviser to the infrastructure company

Parsons Brinckerhoff WSP USA, formerly Parsons Brinckerhoff, is an American multinational engineering and design firm. The firm operates in the fields of strategic consulting, planning, engineering, construction management, energy, infrastructure and community plann ...

. In September 2010 Cotsis was appointed to the Legislative Council to fill a

casual vacancy ''The Casual Vacancy'' is a novel written by British author J. K. Rowling, published worldwide by the Little, Brown Book Group on 27 September 2012. It was Rowling's first publication since the ''Harry Potter'' series, her first novel apart fr ...

following the resignation of

John Della Bosca John Joseph Della Bosca (born 18 July 1956) is an Australian former politician, representing the Labor Party in the New South Wales Legislative Council. From 1999 to 2009, Della Bosca served a range of ministerial portfolios, including Ministe ...

. In September 2016, Cotsis resigned from the Legislative Council after she was preselected to contest the Legislative Assembly seat of

for Labor at the by-election to fill the vacancy left by

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 ...

, who had resigned to contest the federal seat of Barton at the 2016 federal election. Following Labor's victory at the 2023 NSW election, Cotsis was sworn in as the Minister for Industrial Relations and the Minister for Work Health and Safety on 5 April 2023.

References

1973 births Living people Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales Australian people of Greek descent 21st-century Australian politicians Women members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Women members of the New South Wales Legislative Council 21st-century Australian women politicians University of Technology Sydney alumni Macquarie University alumni {{Australia-Labor-NewSouthWales-MP-stub