Sam Rae | |
|---|---|
| Minister for Aged Care and Seniors | |
| Assumed office 13 May 2025 | |
| Prime Minister | Anthony Albanese |
| Preceded by | Anika Wells |
| Member of theAustralian Parliament forHawke | |
| Assumed office 21 May 2022 (2022-05-21) | |
| Preceded by | New seat |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1986-09-29)29 September 1986 (age 39) Canberra, Australia |
| Party | Labor |
Samuel Thomas Rae (born 29 September 1986) is an Australian politician and a member of theAustralian House of Representatives for theDivision of Hawke. He was first elected at the2022 Australian federal election.[1] Prior to his election he was a state secretary for theLabor Party[2] and a partner atPwC.[3]
He holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) fromMelbourne Business School and a Bachelor of Science from theAustralian National University.[4]
Rae was born on 29 September 1986 in Canberra, the son of a public-school teacher. He attended Fadden Primary School, Alfred Deakin High School and Narrabundah College. He holds a Bachelor of Science from theAustralian National University (ANU), a graduate diploma in management and a Master of Business Administration fromMelbourne Business School.[4]
When Rae first left school he worked as a factory labourer. Rae then worked several jobs including as call centre phone operator and childcare worker. After leaving ANU, he worked as a policy advisor for the National Association of Forest Industries and as an advisor to senatorStephen Conroy.[4]
Rae was Victorian Labor's Director of Research and Tactics for the2016 federal election campaign, and he was later appointed State Secretary and Campaign Director of Victorian Labor in 2016. Rae is credited for his leadership of Victorian Labor's landslide2018 state election campaign, which saw Labor win an additional 11 seats off the Liberal Party and the Greens.[2]
Rae left Victorian Labor to joinPwC as a partner in their strategy and management consulting division, where he worked until his election to parliament.
Rae was preselected for the newly established seat ofHawke in June 2021 by the Australian Labor Party.[5] Rae was elected as the first member for Hawke at the2022 federal election.[1] He is said to be a key ally ofRichard Marles, and a key member of the VictorianLabor Right faction.[6][7]
During the 2022 election campaign, as the Labor candidate for Hawke, Rae announced that an elected Labor government would commit $10 million towards planning for theWestern Freeway upgrade betweenMelton andCaroline Springs.[1]
From 28 July 2022 to 28 March 2025, he served on the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics and the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters. He also served on the Joint Statutory Committee on Public Accounts and Audit from 28 July 2022 to 22 June 2023 and from 1 August 2023 to 28 March 2025, and on the Joint Select Committee on Social Media and Australian Society from 16 May to 18 November 2024.[4]
In March 2023, Rae was accused of interjecting "At least I have my own children" during a parliamentary contribution from the openly-lesbian member forMoncrieff,Angie Bell during a childcare debate.[8] Rae strenuously denied the accusation. The member forReid,Sally Sitou, and member forParramatta,Andrew Charlton—who were in the chamber at the time of the alleged incident—strongly supported Rae's version of events.[8]
On theABC'sInsiders program that aired the weekend of the incident, contributorNiki Savva noted "over the past few weeks, the Liberal party has been trying to construct a narrative of bullying by Labor MPs against Liberal women and often the claims that have been made have been misleading or exaggerated."[9] Bell lodged a formal complaint about the incident to theSpeaker, but no findings were made.[8]
After theAlbanese government was re-elected in the2025 federal election, Rae was appointed to thesecond Albanese ministry as theMinister for Aged Care and Seniors within theDepartment of Health and Aged Care.[10]
Rae lives inBallan with his partner Zoe and their three children.[11]
| Parliament of Australia | ||
|---|---|---|
| New seat | Member forHawke 2022–present | Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Minister for Aged Care and Seniors 2025–present | Incumbent |
Prime Minister:Anthony Albanese | ||
| Cabinet | .jpg) | |
| Outer Ministry | ||
| Assistant Ministers | ||
