Sharon Claydon is the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Federal Member for Newcastle. She is just the third woman to hold the position of Deputy Speaker since the Federation of Australia in 1901. Sharon is committed to social justice and improving the lives of working people. She is passionate about fighting discrimination and ensuring we leave a better world for the next generation.
Sharon chaired the Joint Select Committee on Parliamentary Standards, which developed codes of conduct for Australian parliamentarians, their staff, and all Commonwealth parliamentary workplaces. Significantly, these Codes have been endorsed by all political parties and independents. This is an Australian first. She is a member of the Parliamentary Leadership Taskforce, established to oversee the implementation of the recommendations from the Set the Standard: Report on the Independent Review into Commonwealth Parliamentary Workplaces.
Sharon is also the Chair of the Federal Labor Caucus and Labor's Status of Women Committee, the Federal Representative to the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians Steering Committee for the Australia region, and the National Co-Convenor of EMILYs List Australia, supporting progressive Labor women to get elected to Australian parliaments. Sharon is an Honours graduate in Anthropology and, before entering Parliament, worked in remote Aboriginal communities and the community-based disability services sector.
