Olivia Ball | |
---|---|
Councillor of the City of Melbourne | |
Assumed office 2020 | |
Personal details | |
Political party | Greens |
Alma mater | University of Melbourne, University of London, Monash University |
Occupation | Human rights advocate, politician |
Dr Olivia Ball is an Australian human rights advocate and politician. She is serving as a member of the City of Melbourne council in Victoria, Australia.
Ball has a Masters in human rights from London University [1] and a PhD in international human rights law awarded by the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law at Monash University. [2]
In her early career Ball worked as a psychologist before becoming a human rights researcher and activist. [3] Together with Paul Gready she co-authored The No-Nonsense Guide to Human Rights. [4] In 2014, Ball and Nicholas Toonen founded Remedy Australia, a non-government organisation which monitors complaints to the United Nations about Australia's human rights violations and advocates for the right to an effective remedy where UN committees uphold such complaints. [5] The organisation was established on the 20th anniversary of the Toonen Decision. [6]
Ball has worked in the drug outreach program at Fitzroy Legal Service. [7]
Ball has been a member of the Australian Greens Victoria since 2001. [7] She was involved in several campaigns before being elected to the council of the City of Melbourne in the 2020 election. [8]
Ball contested the electorate of Maribyrnong in the 2016 Australian Federal election, losing to incumbent and then leader of the ALP, Bill Shorten. [2]
Ball contested the 2016 Mayoral Election in the City of Melbourne. [3] She was the sole female lord mayoral candidate and attracted the support of former Lord Mayors Lecki Ord and Winsome McCaughey. [9] She was the runner-up to incumbent Lord Mayor Robert Doyle.
Ball stood in the City of Melbourne Council Election in 2020 as the Victorian Greens' second candidate, [10] winning office along with lead candidate Rohan Leppert. [8]
Ball opposes the practise of arbitrary detention in Australia and argues that it "falls to us to press our government to do the right thing." [11] She has criticised income tax cuts whilst "our elderly are dying in need of adequate care" and that we "must expect more of our government." [12]
She supports a medically supervised injecting service in the City of Melbourne [13] and advocates for increased naloxone availability across the city as a harm reduction measure. [14]
Ball was born in East Melbourne and lives in the Melbourne suburb of Carlton. [7]
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