| The Honourable Ursula Stephens |
|
|---|---|
| Senator for New South Wales | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 1 July 2002 |
|
| Constituency | New South Wales |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 7 July 1954 Wicklow, Ireland |
| Nationality | Australian, Irish |
| Political party | Australian Labor Party |
| Profession | Politician |
Ursula Mary Stephens (born 7 July 1954) is an Australian politician. She was elected to the Australian Senate for New South Wales in November 2001, representing the Australian Labor Party. She began her term on 1 July 2002.
Stephens was born in Wicklow, Republic of Ireland. In 1961 she migrated to Australia with her family, settling in Grafton, New South Wales. She attended school in Grafton, then Goulburn Teachers College where she trained as a teacher. She continued her tertiary education through the University of South Australia while living in the Northern Territory, and the University of Canberra. She completed her doctorate in Public Administration in 2005.
Stephens began teaching in 1974, and after 20 years working in primary and secondary schools and in TAFE, established her own training company in 1988. She co-chaired the NSW Rural Communities Consultative Council in 1996–97, and has served as a member of the NSW Women's Advisory Council, the Rural Assistance Authority and the NSW Board of Vocational Education and Training.
She joined the NSW Premiers' Department in 1997, working in the area of strategic projects and regional development until she stood for the Senate.
Stephens is married with four children, and her interests include motorcycle riding, environmental issues and adult and community education. She is patron of the Goulburn Field Naturalist Society.
Stephens has been an active ALP member since joining after the dismissal of the Whitlam government in 1975. She has been a member of several NSW and National Policy Committees, and a member of the NSW Administrative Committee since 1987. Stephens was elected to the National Executive Committee in 1997 and is the NSW representative on the ALP's National Labor Women's Network Executive.
In 2007, Senator Stephens was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Social Inclusion and the Voluntary Sector and Parliamentary Secretary Assisting the Prime Minister for Social Inclusion in the Rudd Labor Ministry. She was not re-appointed to the Gillard Ministry after the 2010 election.
A practicing Catholic, Stephens has repeatedly stated her opposition to changing Australian legislation to allow homosexual couples to marry.