Samantha Ratnam

Samantha Ratnam is a British-Australian politician and social worker who served as the leader of the Victorian Greens from 2017 to 2024. Born in England and raised in Sri Lanka, she moved to Australia in 1989 and later pursued a career in social work, focusing on asylum seekers and mental health. Ratnam entered politics as a councillor and mayor for the City of Moreland before being elected to the Victorian Legislative Council in 2017. During her tenure, she advocated for housing affordability, rent freezes, and environmental protection, and led parliamentary inquiries into far-right extremism and biodiversity loss. She resigned from the Legislative Council in 2024 to contest the federal election for the Division of Wills.