Olivia Ball | |
---|---|
Councillor of the City of Melbourne | |
Assumed office 2020 | |
Personal details | |
Political party | Greens |
Alma mater | University of Melbourne, University of London, Monash University |
Occupation | Human 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.
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]
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]
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]
Ball contested the electorate of Maribyrnong in the 2016 Australian Federal election, losing to incumbent and then leader of the ALP, Bill Shorten.[2]
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.
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]
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]
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."[12] 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."[13]
She supports a medically supervised injecting service in the City of Melbourne[14] and advocates for increased naloxone availability across the city as a harm reduction measure.[15]
Ball was born in East Melbourne and lives in the Melbourne suburb of Carlton.[7]