Olivia Ball

Olivia Ball
Councillor of the City of Melbourne
Incumbent
Assumed office
2020
Personal details
Political partyGreens
Alma materUniversity of Melbourne, University of London, Monash University
OccupationHuman rights advocate, politician

Dr Olivia Ball is an Australian human rights advocate and politician. She is serving as a member of the City of Melbourne council in Victoria, Australia.

Qualifications

Ball has a Masters in human rights from London University[1] and a PhD in international human rights law awarded by the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law at Monash University.[2]

Career

In her early career Ball worked as a psychologist before becoming a human rights researcher and activist.[3] Together with Paul Gready she co-authored The No-Nonsense Guide to Human Rights.[4] In 2014, Ball and Nicholas Toonen founded Remedy Australia, a non-government organisation which monitors complaints to the United Nations about Australia's human rights violations and advocates for the right to an effective remedy where UN committees uphold such complaints.[5] The organisation was established on the 20th anniversary of the Toonen Decision.[6]

Ball has worked in the drug outreach program at Fitzroy Legal Service.[7]

Politics

Ball has been a member of the Australian Greens Victoria since 2001.[7] She was involved in several campaigns before being elected to the council of the City of Melbourne in the 2020 election.[8]

2016 Federal Election

Ball contested the electorate of Maribyrnong in the 2016 Australian Federal election, losing to incumbent and then leader of the ALP, Bill Shorten.[2]

2016 City of Melbourne Mayoral Election

Ball contested the 2016 Mayoral Election in the City of Melbourne.[3] She was the sole female lord mayoral candidate and attracted the support of former Lord Mayors Lecki Ord and Winsome McCaughey.[9] She was the runner-up to incumbent Lord Mayor Robert Doyle.

2020 City of Melbourne Council Election

Ball stood in the City of Melbourne Council Election in 2020 as the Victorian Greens' second candidate,[10] winning office along with lead candidate Rohan Leppert.[8]

2024 City of Melbourne Council Election

Ball was preselected as the Victorian Greens' lead candidate for the City of Melbourne Council Election in 2024 following the decision by Rohan Leppert not to recontest the election.[11] She was reelected at the October election and is the sole Greens member on council.[12]

Advocacy

Ball opposes the practise of arbitrary detention in Australia and argues that it "falls to us to press our government to do the right thing."[13] She has criticised income tax cuts whilst "our elderly are dying in need of adequate care" and that we "must expect more of our government."[14]

She supports a medically supervised injecting service in the City of Melbourne[15] and advocates for increased naloxone availability across the city as a harm reduction measure.[16]

Personal life

Ball was born in East Melbourne and lives in the Melbourne suburb of Carlton.[7]

References

  1. ^ Green, Antony. "Federal Election 2016". ABC News. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  2. ^ a b Davey, Melissa (1 May 2016). "Asylum seekers: Greens use Labor's 'key weakness' to attack Shorten's stronghold". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  3. ^ a b Lucas, Clay (18 July 2016). "Greens name human rights advocate Olivia Ball as Lord Mayor candidate". The Age. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  4. ^ Ball, Olivia; Gready, Paul (2007). The No-Nonsense Guide to Human Rights. New Internationalist. ISBN 978-1904456452.
  5. ^ "Remedy Australia". Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  6. ^ Harrison, Dan (4 October 2014). "How a Tasmanian gay rights battle influenced the world". The Age. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  7. ^ a b c Car, Sean (18 May 2021). "Olivia gets the ball rolling on council". North West City News. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  8. ^ a b Durkin, Patrick (4 November 2020). "Sally Capp re-elected Melbourne mayor". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  9. ^ Lucas, Clay (20 September 2016). "With Robert Doyle set for four more years, female mayors lament backward steps". The Age. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  10. ^ Eddie, Rachel (27 September 2020). "The candidates competing for the keys to Melbourne Town Hall". The Age. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  11. ^ Car, Sean (27 March 2024). "Greens preselect lead City of Melbourne councillor candidates". Docklands News. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
  12. ^ Fleetwood, Jon (13 November 2024). "The results are in: Nick Reece elected Melbourne's Lord Mayor". North West City News. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
  13. ^ Ball, Olivia (7 April 2015). "How we've failed as a nation on arbitrary detention". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  14. ^ Ball, Olivia (2 August 2019). "We can have the aged care we need: opinion". Australian Ageing Agenda. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  15. ^ Booker, Chloe (25 May 2021). "After furious debate, Melbourne council votes to support safe-injecting room in CBD". The Age. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  16. ^ Abbott, Lachlan (22 November 2023). "Vending machines for clean syringes and opioid treatment proposed by Melbourne City". The Age. Retrieved 12 December 2023.