Jenny Leong

Jenny Leong is the State Member for the Electorate of Newtown in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. The Electorate includes the suburbs of Redfern, Surry Hills, Camperdown, Enmore, Petersham, Darlington, Stanmore, Chippendale, Lewisham, Erskineville and Newtown. The ABC’s Election Analyst Antony Green has described it as “the state's newest, smallest and funkiest electorate.”

Jenny was elected to parliament at the NSW state election on 28 March 2015. She is the first person to represent the seat of Newtown in its current form, as the electorate was recreated for the 2015 election, to accommodate inner Sydney's rapidly growing population. However the history of the Electorate of Newtown dates back to 1904 and it was represented by a number of Members before it was merged then abolished in the mid-1900s.

Earlier in her career Jenny worked for a number of years with Amnesty International as a crisis coordinator and campaign manager in London, Hong Kong, and Sydney. At Amnesty International, she oversaw the organisation’s response to the Middle East & North Africa Uprising and worked to protect freedom of expression in the lead up to the 2010 Burma elections. Prior to entering parliament, Jenny was the Manager of Community Arts and Cultural Development at the Australia Council for the Arts.

Jenny has lived, studied and worked in the suburbs that make up the electorate of Newtown for nearly 20 years. While studying at the University of Sydney, she held leadership roles as a fellow on the University of Sydney Senate and as President of the Sydney University Postgraduate Association.

Jenny has been an active member of The Greens for over a decade. In 2013, she worked as the Federal Election Campaign Coordinator for the NSW Greens.

Jenny's portfolios

• Human Rights & Anti-Discrimination
• Industrial Relations
• Housing & Homelessness
• Women