Architect Shelley Penn, former national president of the Australian Institute of Architects, will contest Australia’s next Federal election for the senate.
Ms Penn will run as an Australian Labor Party candidate in the state of Victoria along with current senators Kim Carr (former minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research) and Stephen Conroy (Deputy Leader of the Opposition and former Minister for Communications). Penn will Labor’s third preference behind the incumbent senators.
As well as being the principal of her own practice, Penn has held positions including Victoria’s first Associate Government Architect, chair of National Capital Authority, deputy chair of Heritage Council of Victoria and member of Architects Registration Board of Victoria. In 2011, she co-chaired a review of the planning process for Sydney’s controversial Barangaroo development and she has also been a member of the Victorian Design Review Panel and Capital City Design Review Panel in South Australia.
In 2014, Penn was named one of the top 100 Women of Influence by The Australian Financial Review and Westpac Bank.
The next Federal election, for the 45th Parliament of Australia, is due on or before 14 January 2017. Six Victorian senate seats will be contested in the half-senate election, unless a double dissolution election is held.