Kelly O’Dwyer

The Honourable Kelly O’Dwyer served as a member of the Australian Parliament for over nine years representing the Liberal Party in the Federal seat of Higgins. Elected at 32, Kelly was the youngest woman appointed to Cabinet, the first woman to serve in Cabinet in a Treasury portfolio and the only Cabinet Minister to have given birth whilst in office.

Kelly held a number of senior economic portfolios including Minister for Jobs and Industrial Relations; Minister for Revenue and Financial Services; Minister for Small Business; and Assistant Treasurer. Kelly also served as Minister for Women; as well as Minister Assisting the Prime Minister with the Public Service. She was internationally recognised as one of the most inspiring and influential women of 2018 in the BBC’s 100 Women list.

Kelly was a member of Federal Cabinet and the Cabinet’s Budget Committee (the Expenditure Review Committee) from 2015 until her retirement from Parliament in 2019. Prior to entering Parliament, Kelly worked in law, government and finance: as a mergers and acquisitions lawyer at Freehills (now Herbert Smith Freehills); as a Senior Adviser to the Federal Treasurer, the Hon. Peter Costello AC; and as Head of Professional Services, Private and Institutional Wealth at the National Australia Bank. Kelly is currently a member of the School Council of Caulfield Grammar School.

She holds a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) and Bachelor of Arts from the University of Melbourne.

Kelly is a member of the Audit and Risk Committee.