Steve Dimopoulos (born 3 December 1972) is an Australian politician. He has been a Labor Party member of the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The presidin ...

since 2014 representing the electoral district of Oakleigh. He has served as the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events and the

Minister for Creative Industries The Minister for Creative Industries is a minister within the Executive Council of Victoria, Australia. It was formerly known as the Minister for the Arts up until the Andrews Government. Ministers See also * Minister for the Arts (Aus ...

in the Second Andrews Ministry since June 2022.

Early career

Prior to his election to state parliament, Dimopoulos was a councilor, and former mayor of the

City of Monash The City of Monash is a local government area in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne with an area of 81.5 square kilometres and a population of 200,077 people in 2016. Demographics Monash has a diverse po ...

. He previously worked as a public servant in the Department of Justice and the Department of the Premier and Cabinet. He also worked for the former federal member for Hotham,

Simon Crean Simon Findlay Crean (born 26 February 1949) is an Australian politician and trade unionist. He was the Member of Parliament for Hotham from 1990 to 2013, representing the Labor Party, and served as a Cabinet Minister in the Hawke, Keating, ...

. Before entering politics Dimopoulos was a small business owner in Oakleigh.

Political career

In 2018 Dimopoulos was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the

Treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury o ...

. He then served as Parliamentary Secretary to the

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 ...

, and Parliamentary Secretary for Mental Health from 2020. Dimopoulos was sworn in as Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events and

on 27 June 2022. Originally a member of

Labor Right The Labor Right, also known as Modern Labor, is a political faction of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) at the national level that is characterised by being more economically conservative and, in some cases, more socially conservative. The Labor ...

, Dimopoulos defected to

Labor Left The Labor Left, also known as the Progressive Left or Socialist Left, is political faction of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). It competes with the more economically liberal Labor Right faction. The Labor Left operates autonomously in each s ...

along with six of his colleagues shortly after the 2022 Victorian state election; the defections of his colleagues and himself meant that Labor Left constituted a majority of the state Labor caucus.

Personal life

Dimopoulos is of Greek descent. He and

Harriet Shing Harriet Shing (born 17 October 1976) is an Australian politician. She is a Labor member of the Victorian Legislative Council, having represented the Eastern Victoria Region since 2014. Shing is the first openly lesbian member of the Parliam ...

are the first openly gay frontbenchers in the

Parliament of Victoria The Parliament of Victoria is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria that follows a Westminster System, Westminster-derived parliamentary system. It consists of the Monarchy in Australia, King, repres ...

References

External links

*
Member profile – Parliament of Victoria website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dimopoulos, Steve 1972 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Victoria Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Victoria (state) local councillors Mayors of places in Victoria (state) Australian people of Greek descent 21st-century Australian politicians LGBT legislators in Australia Australian gay men Gay politicians Labor Left politicians Ministers for Creative Industries