Linda Burney, one of the Stolen Generation of Aboriginal children, grew up in Whitton, New South Wales. She received her Diploma of Teaching from the Mitchell College of Advanced Education and then began teaching in western Sydney in 1979. In the mid-1980s, Burney 'became involved in the New South Wales Aboriginal Education Consultative Group (AECG) and helped set up the national body, the Australian federation of AECGs, in 1990-1991. She was also instrumental in the development and implementation of the first Aboriginal education policy in Australia for the state's education department. In the early 1990s Burney was, concurrently, president of the national body of AECGs, and chair of the New South Wales National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Policy Coordinating Committee ... She has been a Member of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission National Social Justice Taskforce and an Executive Member of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation.'
In 2003, Burney became the first Aboriginal person elected to the New South Wales Parliament. After representing Canterbury in the NSW Parliament for fourteen years, she was elected federal member for Barton in 2016, becoming the first Aboriginal woman to serve in the Australian House of Representatives. Following her election to the House of Representatives, she was appointed Shadow Minister for Human Services. She has held senior positions in the non-government sector serving on a number of boards, including SBS, the NSW Anti-Discrimination Board, and the NSW Board of Studies.
