The Hon. Kevin Andrews
The Hon. Kevin Andrews served in the Australian Commonwealth Parliament from 1991 until 2022 as the member for the Victorian seat of Menzies in the House of Representatives.
Mr Andrews held a number of Ministerial and Cabinet appointments during his time in Parliament, including serving as Minister for Defence (2014-2015), Minister for Social Services (2013-2014), Minister for Immigration and Citizenship (2007), Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service (2003-2007), and Minister for Ageing (2001-2003).
More recently, Kevin was the Chairman of the Joint Standing Committee on the National Disability Insurance Scheme, Chairman of the Joint Select Committee on Australia’s Family Law System, Chairman of the Human Right Sub-Committee of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade and Chairman of the House Privileges and Member’s Interests Committee. He was also a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Intelligence and Security.
Mr Andrews’ Shadow Ministerial appointments included Shadow Minister for Schools, Vocational Education and Training (1993-1994) and Shadow Minister for Families, Housing and Human Services (2009-2013). Since his election to Parliament, Mr Andrews served on numerous Parliamentary Committees, including the Joint Select Committee on Family Law Issues, the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties and the Joint Select Committee on Intelligence Services. He has also served as Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, Chairman of the Federal Government’s Policy Committee on Family and Community Services and Deputy Chairman of the House of Representatives Economic Committee.
Mr Andrews is the author of Maybe I Do: Modern Marriage and the Pursuit of Happiness (Connor Court, 2012), Joseph Lyons and the Management of Adversity (Connor Court, 2016), One People One Destiny (Threshold Publishing, 2017) and Great Rivalries - cycling and the story of Italy (Connor Court, 2019).
Raised in country Victoria, Mr Andrews studied Law and Arts at Melbourne University, where he resided at Newman College, before completing a Master of Laws at Monash University.
Before his election to parliament, Mr Andrews served as an Associate to Sir James Gobbo in the Victorian Supreme Court before practicing law at the Victorian Bar. He was named Australian Young Lawyer of the Year for his community work in establishing a legal scheme for disaster victims, and for publishing a book for seniors about the law.
He was also a race-caller and sports reporter for more than a decade.
Kevin has served on a series of community, professional and other organisations, and continues to do so currently. (See Community tab).
A keen cyclist, Mr Andrews is married to Margaret and together they have five adult children and seven grandchildren.