Representative Amanda Rishworth Contact information

Amanda Louise Rishworth is an Australian politician and member of the Australian Labor Party. Born on 10 July 1978 in Adelaide, she grew up with two siblings, Julian and Shannon, and attended Unley High School. During her teenage years, Rishworth worked as a retail assistant and swimming instructor, while also volunteering as a surf lifesaver at Seacliff. Later on, she became an organizer and trainer for the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA) and served as the president of Australian Young Labor in 2000.

Rishworth attended Flinders University, where she studied psychology and served as the president of the students’ union. She furthered her education by obtaining a master’s degree in clinical psychology from Adelaide University. She subsequently worked as a practicing psychologist, providing mental health care to the community.

In the 2006 state election, Rishworth was a Labor candidate for the electoral district of Fisher but was defeated by the sitting independent Bob Such. She ran for the seat of Kingston in the 2007 federal election, representing the Australian Labor Party. Her opponent was the incumbent Kym Richardson, who had won the seat with just 119 votes in the previous election. Rishworth campaigned on issues such as the lack of broadband access in the electorate and the shortage of doctors. On election day, Rishworth won with a 54.4% two-party-preferred vote, with a 4.5-point swing in her favor, making her one of the members to take the party from opposition to government after almost 12 years.

In the parliament, Rishworth served as a member of the health and ageing, communications, and industry, science and innovation committees. She was also a vocal advocate for workplace relations and enforced the Australian workplace agreement (AWA). In September 2008, she introduced a private member’s bill in parliament for a new agreement between the Australian and British governments to index the British pension in Australia. Rishworth again introduced a private member’s bill into parliament in February 2010, calling for a new code of conduct for the media industry to moderate the rapid growth of sexualisation in video clips, magazines, clothes, and the internet.

In the 2010 federal election, Rishworth ran against Chris Zanker, the Liberal party candidate, and campaigned on her previous record, with construction underway on the GP super clinic and securing funds for the extension of the Noarlunga railway line to Seaford. Rishworth won the election with a 63.9% two-party vote, a 9.5-point two-party swing, the largest margin of any party in Kingston’s history, and the highest swing of any 2010 Labor candidate in the country.

Rishworth served as the Minister for Social Services in the Albanese ministry, and she was also the chair of the House of Representatives standing committee on education and employment. On 11 March 2011, she was among the five Australian parliamentarians stuck on a bullet train heading from Kyoto to Tokyo for around five hours because of the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.