Name Kelly Vincent | Party Dignity for Disability | |
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Born 25 October 1988 (age 35) ( 1988-10-25 ) Office Member of the South Australian Legislative Council since 2010 Similar People Tammy Franks, Gail Gago, Stephen Wade, Robert Brokenshire, Jing Lee | ||
Political party Dignity for Disability | ||
being a young woman in parliament kelly vincent
Kelly Leah Vincent (born 25 October 1988) is an Australian playwright, actor and politician. She was elected at the 2010 state election for the Dignity Party party to the eleventh and last seat for an eight-year term in the 22-member Legislative Council in the Parliament of South Australia.
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Vincent has cerebral palsy and attends parliament in a wheelchair. Parliament House underwent installation of a specifically designed desk inside the chamber, as well as wheelchair accessible toilets and ramps.
Kelly ♥'s IDAHO
Early career
Vincent was a playwright and actress before being elected to parliament. She wrote and appeared in several "No Strings Attached" productions, a company dedicated to people with disabilities. She undertook high school work experience with the company in 2004, and has worked with the company on and off. She is also fluent in the French and Spanish languages, and began language studies at university after year 12 before returning to writing plays.
Parliament
The party's upper house vote doubled from 0.6 percent to 1.2 percent at the 2010 state election, and after receiving preferences, Vincent was elected to the eleventh and last upper house seat. Vincent was listed second on the party's upper house ticket, but received the preferences of first candidate Paul Collier who died of a brain haemorrhage eleven days before the election.
Aged 21 at the time of election, Vincent is the youngest member of the Parliament of South Australia and the youngest woman elected to any Australian parliament. She stated she would "probably side with The Greens on certain issues".
Vincent is a member of a number of parliamentary committees including the Social Development Committee, Access to and Interaction with the Justice System for People with Disabilities, Disability Services Funding, Electoral Matters in South Australia, Joint Committee on the Operation of the Transplantation and Anatomy Act 1983, Access to the Education System for Students with Disabilities, and the Joint Committee on matters relating to Elder Abuse.
Awards
On 29 March 2017, Vincent won a Zonta Women of Achievement Award for Outstanding Achievement in Human Rights.