Jordon Steele-John

Biography

Jordan Alexander Steele-John is an Australian politician and disability rights advocate who was born on October 14, 1994, in Northampton, England. Steele-John migrated to Australia with his parents at a young age and was home-educated with his brother. He is a disability advocate who campaigned for the Greens in federal and state elections as a student.

Steele-John studied politics at Macquarie University, but his appointment to the Senate cut short his undergraduate studies. At age 18, he renounced British citizenship in preparation for the 2013 federal election and currently holds only Australian citizenship.

Prior to being listed as the third senate candidate for the Greens in the 2016 federal election, Steele-John was a candidate for the WA Greens three times. He entered the Australian Senate in 2017 after Western Australian senator Scott Ludlam was forced to resign. Steele-John was declared elected at age 23, making him the youngest sitting member in the Australian parliament and the youngest senator in Australia’s history. He was re-elected in the 2019 federal election.

As the youngest person in the Senate, Steele-John is engaged in the youth climate movement and is passionate about addressing the climate crisis. He was named the McKinnon Emerging Political Leader of the Year in March 2019 for his leadership as a disability advocate. In 2021, he wrote an essay that appeared in the Growing Up Disabled in Australia anthology published by Black Inc Books.

Steele-John is an advocate and supporter of disability rights and LGBT rights. He has campaigned extensively in the disability, health, and peace spaces. He successfully campaigned for the establishment of the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability in 2019. In 2020, he successfully campaigned for a compensation scheme for thalidomide survivors and in 2021 pressured the government to abolish independent assessments in the NDIS.

Steele-John is also passionate about mental health and took on the Australian Greens’ Health and Mental Health portfolio in 2021, announcing the Greens’ policy to expand Medicare to cover mental health treatment. He is a strong proponent of urgent climate action and introduced a Senate motion to condemn the lifting of the Western Australian fracking moratorium in 2018.

Steele-John is an active anti-nuclear campaigner and a strong advocate for Australia’s signing of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. He introduced the Defence Amendment (Parliamentary Approval of Overseas Service) Bill 2020, which seeks to ensure the decision to go to war is made by the Parliament, not the Prime Minister.

In 2018, Steele-John introduced a bill to lower the voting age to sixteen, arguing that it would be in line with Austria, Argentina, Brazil, and Scotland. The bill was not passed by parliament. In February 2018, he also expressed disappointment at the lack of government support for the Australian video game development industry.

Overall, Steele-John is a dedicated politician and advocate who has made significant contributions to disability rights, mental health, climate action, peace, and many other important issues.