24 Facts About Jacinta Collins

Jacinta Mary Ann Collins was born on 4 September 1962 and is a former Australian politician who served as a Senator for Victoria from 1995 to 2005 and again from 2008 to 2019.

Jacinta Collins represented the Australian Labor Party and was the party's deputy leader in the Senate from June to October 2013.

Jacinta Collins retired from politics prior to the 2019 federal election and accepted an appointment as national executive director of the National Catholic Education Commission on 18 February 2019.

Jacinta Collins was born on 4 September 1962 in Altona, Victoria.

Jacinta Collins grew up in the suburb of Ashwood in Melbourne.

Jacinta Collins holds the degrees of Bachelor of Arts from Monash University and Bachelor of Social Work from La Trobe University.

Jacinta Collins worked for the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association from 1980 until her appointment to the Senate in 1995, initially as a social welfare and research officer and then as national industrial officer for five years.

Jacinta Collins was a delegate to the Australian Council of Trade Unions national congress from 1983 and was elected to the ACTU council in 1993.

Jacinta Collins first entered parliament as a Senator for Victoria in 1995.

Jacinta Collins was appointed to the Senate to fill a casual vacancy caused by the death of Olive Zakharov.

At the time, Jacinta Collins was the only Victorian female Labor representative.

From October 1998 to November 2001, Jacinta Collins was Parliamentary Secretary to the Shadow Minister for Industrial Relations and Employment, Training and Population.

Jacinta Collins was elected, and her term was due to start on 1 July 2008 when Ray's term expired.

Jacinta Collins was sworn into the Senate later that month.

Jacinta Collins was promoted to the Second Gillard Ministry as the Parliamentary Secretary for School Education and Workplace Relations on 14 September 2010.

On 26 June 2013, following the return of Rudd as leader, Jacinta Collins was elected Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate by her parliamentary colleagues.

Jacinta Collins replaced Senator Penny Wong, who was elevated to Senate leader.

Jacinta Collins was known for her social conservatism, including opposition to assisted reproductive technology for lesbians and single women, opposition to the use of human embryos in medical research, and opposition to same-sex marriage.

In January 2019, Jacinta Collins announced that she would not contest the next election, citing "family health issues" for her decision to quit politics.

Jacinta Collins resigned from the Senate on 15 February 2019, and was announced as the new head of the National Catholic Education Commission on the same day.

In 2023, Jacinta Collins was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of Notre Dame Australia for her contribution to public life and education.

Jacinta Collins has two children with her husband Daryl, a train driver.

Jacinta Collins was one of the first female MPs allowed to carry an infant on the floor of parliament.

Jacinta Collins' first child was born from an unplanned pregnancy when she was 19 years old.