When Kearney was 21, she became pregnant with twins, leading her to take leave from her nursing training.[6] She returned to her training when her children were 7 weeks old.[6]
Career
Kearney was elected as an official of the
Australian Nursing Federation in 1997. She served as assistant federal secretary, federal president, and Victorian branch president before she was appointed as federal secretary of the Federation in April 2008.[1] On 1 July 2010, following the departure of
Sharan Burrow, Kearney was elected president of the ACTU.[1] At the time, the election process was criticised by the president of the
Australian Workers' Union,
Paul Howes, as being "undemocratic", because of the exclusion of right-wing aligned unions from the election process.[7] Kearney stated in response that she had received the support of "70% of unions" within the ACTU.[7]
In December 2011, Kearney and other trade unionists were deported from
Fiji, under the emergency laws put in place following the
constitutional crisis of 2009.[8] In July 2012, Kearney announced that the ACTU would donate to Fiji
A$2.6 million to assist in the running of democratic elections.[9]
In April 2012, Kearney announced that the ACTU would suspend the membership of the
Health Services Union, in the wake of the
Health Services Union expenses affair.[10] Kearney described the scandal as "a bad look" for the union movement.[11] In the following month, Kearney addressed a conference of the ACTU where she stated that the "misuse of members' money and contempt for the accountability to members [is] unacceptable."[12]
In July 2012, immigration minister
Chris Bowen created the Ministerial Advisory Council on Skilled Migration (MACSM), and appointed Kearney as one of its nine members.[13] In 2017, Kearney resigned from the MACSM, stating that the body had become "ineffective" and "unbalanced".[14]
In February 2018, a
by-election was announced in the seat of Batman following the resignation of
David Feeney due to the
2017–2018 Australian parliamentary eligibility crisis. Kearney was preselected by Labor to contest the by-election and on 2 February 2018, resigned as president of the ACTU to campaign.[22] Kearney's main opponent was Greens candidate
Alex Bhathal, who had already run for the seat five times previously.[23][24] Controversy around the proposed
Adani Carmichael coal mine was a significant feature of the by-election campaigning.[23] During the campaign, Labor leader
Bill Shorten stated his "scepticism" of the coal mine, and Kearney also voiced criticisms of the project, but did not commit to blocking it.[25][26] The
Australian Conservation Foundation distributed material stating that only the Greens would "stop Adani's mine from going ahead".[27] Activist group
GetUp! also stated they would not assist Labor in campaigning, due to their position on the coal mine.[28]
During the by-election campaign, Kearney received the personal endorsement of former Prime Minister
Julia Gillard. A letter written by Gillard was distributed to 36,000 houses within the electorate.[29] Kearney was also endorsed by
EMILY's List Australia, a Labor-aligned organisation that advocates for representation of women in parliament.[30] Kearney won the
by-election on 17 March 2018 with 43.20% of the primary votes, and 54.43% of votes after distribution of preferences.[31]
Following the 2019 federal election,
Opposition LeaderAnthony Albanese appointed Kearney into
his shadow ministry as the shadow assistant minister for skills and shadow assistant minister for aged care.[36] In July 2019, Kearney joined the Parliamentary Committee for Employment, Education and Training.[36] Following a
shadow cabinet reshuffle in January 2021, Kearney was appointed as shadow assistant minister for health and ageing.[36] In June 2021, Kearney and two other Labor women MPs wrote to the Prime Minister,
Scott Morrison, calling for him to sack the committee chair
Andrew Laming over his behaviour towards women.[37] Following Labor's success in the
2022 federal election, Kearney was appointed
assistant minister for health and aged care by Prime Minister
Anthony Albanese on 1 June 2022.[36][38][39] In December that year, Kearney was also appointed to chair the newly formed National Women's Health Advisory Council which was established to look at ways of improving health outcomes for women and girls, and tackling "
medical misogyny".[40][41] On 1 July 2022, Kearney announced that self-collection of samples for
cervical cancertesting would become available.[42] On 22 November 2023, Kearney announced the National Strategy for the Elimination of Cervical Cancer, along with A$48.2 million for its implementation.[43] The Strategy includes measures such as achieving a 90% vaccination rate amongst boys for
HPV.[43]
On 15 November 2023, fake corpses were placed outside Kearney's and other MP's electorate offices as part of a protest against the government's position on the
2023 Israel–Hamas war.[44]
On 3 December 2023, Kearney attended
COP28 and delivered a speech announcing the Australian National Health and Climate Strategy, including priorities such as "Health system decarbonisation" and "Resilience actions".[45] The strategy was "welcomed" by the
Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association, and Asthma Australia.[46][47] It was praised by Dietitians Australia for including a review of "nutrition and sustainability standards" in healthcare.[48]Doctors for the Environment Australia (DEA) stated the strategy was "an important step forward", with the DEA executive director stating that the government must "phase out fossil fuels if it's serious about protecting lives."[49]
Political beliefs
This [the Voice] was a very generous request made of us by First Nations people, through a very broad process of consultation, and that culminated in the Uluru Statement from the Heart, which asked us to do this ... It was a very generous offer that was made, given 200 years of colonisation.
Ged Kearney,
Q+A, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 4 September 2023[50]
Kearney is a supporter of
LGBT rights, and participated in the
Sydney WorldPride march in March 2023.[53] Along with Health Minister
Mark Butler, Kearney set up and now chairs the federal government
HIV taskforce.[54] Kearney and Butler also supported a motion at the national Labor conference in 2023, that called for the removal of a blanket restriction on
gay and
bisexual men, as well as
transgender women, from donating blood.[55] Kearney also chairs the LGBTIQA+ Health and Wellbeing 10 Year National Action Plan Expert Advisory Group, a body responsible for developing a national plan for
LGBTIQA+ health.[56]
Kearney is a member of the Australian All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tibet.[57]
^Kearney, Ged (26 June 2023).
"New era for LGBTIQA+ health care". Department of Health and Aged Care.
Archived from the original on 26 October 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023.