When news came through that Sam Rae had been appointed the new Minister for Aged Care, few in the sector had heard of the ambitious young politician from Victoria's right.
Minister Rae replaces the high-profile Minister Anika Wells, who often spoke of her time working in aged care as a student and who has been credited with achieving a new funding model for aged care after establishing the Aged Care Taskforce.
"I’m deeply honoured to have been sworn in this morning as Minister for Aged Care and Seniors," Minister Rae said on social media.
"It’s a challenging portfolio, and I’m proud to take it on alongside Labor’s talented team.
"There’s a lot of work to do, and we’re ready to get started. I’ll bring my full focus and energy to this role - working hard every day to deliver better outcomes for older Australians. That work begins now."
The new Minister, who is 39, has a career spanning both the corporate world and Labor politics.
After completing a science degree at ANU in 2009, he worked as a policy advisor for the industry group, the National Association of Forest Industries.
As the son of a teacher and union activist, Minister Rae also worked as an advisor to Victorian Labor Senator Stephen Conroy, who has been an influential figure in his career.
In 2016, he completed an MBA at Melbourne Business School, the same year he worked as Director of Research and Tactics for Victorian Labor on the Federal Election campaign.
Following the election, the Minister joined global management consultants PwC as a partner in their strategy and management consulting division, where he worked until he was elected to Parliament in 2022 in the safe Labor seat of Hawke.
We understand that Minister Rae only has two members of staff – this is expected to change.
