Sourced positions
Each position is the member's own stated view or vote, supported by the listed sources. The badge says what kind of source backs it — official record (Hansard, a parliament, a government or an electoral commission), own statement (their own site or their party's), news report (journalism or a third-party organisation) or encyclopedia. That is a statement about the evidence, not about how much we believe it. This page records public statements and conduct only — see methodology.
AyeNoPairedDid not vote
Abortion & reproductive policy official record
As Health Minister, Stephen-Smith introduced and moved the Health (Improved Abortion Access) Amendment Bill 2024 and voted Aye when the Assembly agreed to it in principle on 25 June 2024 (19 to 4; the bill then passed without a division), stating in the chamber that 'abortion is an essential feature of an equitable healthcare system' and that the ACT Labor government 'has been at the forefront of abortion rights and reproductive justice in Australia'; she also confirmed there was no intention to remove the right to conscientious objection.
- Debates Weekly Hansard, Tenth Assembly, 25 June 2024
- Capital Territory becomes first Australia jurisdiction to provide free abortion care
Votes on record · 1
- ✓Health (Improved Abortion Access) Amendment Bill 2024Amends the Health Act 1993 so that nurse practitioners, and others a regulation specifies (authorised midwives), may prescribe abortion medication such as MS-2 Step. A practitioner who declines to provide or assist with an abortion on conscientious grounds must transfer the person's care, or tell them how to find a provider who can help.25 Jun 2024 ↗
Voluntary assisted dying recorded votes
Votes on record · 1
- ✓Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2023Lets an adult with an advanced, progressive condition expected to cause their death, who is suffering intolerably and has decision-making capacity, choose voluntary assisted dying. Unlike other Australian schemes, it sets no time frame within which death must be expected. The person must have lived in the ACT for the last 12 months, or show a substantial connection to it; a disability or mental illness alone is not an eligible condition.5 Jun 2024 ↗
Gender & LGBTQ+ policy recorded votes
Votes on record · 2
- ✓Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Amendment Bill 2023Amends the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1997 to remove administrative barriers for transgender and gender-diverse people changing their registered sex or name: young people aged 14 and over may apply directly to the registrar-general (previously 16 and over), a parent may update their own name and parental descriptor on their child's birth certificate, and a parent with sole parental responsibility faces fewer barriers to changing their child's registered name or sex.21 Mar 2024 ↗
- ✓Sexuality and Gender Identity Conversion Practices Bill 2020Prohibits conversion practices, those directed at changing a person's sexuality or gender identity, and gives the ACT Human Rights Commission a complaints jurisdiction over them; only the aggrieved person or their agent may complain. Presented by the Chief Minister, Andrew Barr, with Shane Rattenbury as co-sponsor; Mr Barr said religious individuals and institutions could still teach their faith.27 Aug 2020 ↗
Religious freedom recorded votes
Votes on record · 1
- ✓Sexuality and Gender Identity Conversion Practices Bill 2020Prohibits conversion practices, those directed at changing a person's sexuality or gender identity, and gives the ACT Human Rights Commission a complaints jurisdiction over them; only the aggrieved person or their agent may complain. Presented by the Chief Minister, Andrew Barr, with Shane Rattenbury as co-sponsor; Mr Barr said religious individuals and institutions could still teach their faith.27 Aug 2020 ↗
Drugs & law and order news report
As Health Minister, Stephen-Smith backed the 2022 decriminalisation of personal possession of small amounts of illicit drugs, saying the changes ensure people with small amounts for personal use 'are treated with a health response not a criminal one' and that 'treating drug addiction as a health issue improves outcomes for everyone in the community.' (Stated position.)
Health official record
ACT Minister for Health (Barr Labor government). In 2025 released the 2025-2030 ACT Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Regional Plan, signed a new agreement to strengthen primary care, expanded nurse practitioners' scope of practice via the Nurse Practitioners Legislation Amendment Bill 2025, and established an independent inquiry into health-system data, demand and workforce recruitment/retention.
Votes are shown as the official record lists them — Hansard federally and in New South Wales; Votes and Proceedings, Minutes of the Proceedings and Hansard in Victoria; the Record of Proceedings in Queensland; the Votes and Proceedings and Minutes of Proceedings in Western Australia; the Votes and Proceedings (House of Assembly) and Hansard (Legislative Council) in South Australia; the Votes and Proceedings of both chambers in Tasmania. "Did not vote" means the member held the seat that day and is on neither list — the record says who was in the chamber, not why, so it is never an abstention. Western Australia’s record prints no pairs, so a member paired there shows as did not vote. Nothing is shown for a presiding officer who by law gives only a casting vote (the Speaker and the President in South Australia, the President in Tasmania), nor for the member presiding at a Tasmanian division, which Tasmania’s journals record. Which bills sit under which issue is an editorial choice, made bill by bill with a reason read from the second-reading speech. A bill decided by an earlier parliament (Queensland’s 2018 abortion law reform, for one) is shown with that parliament named, read from the official record of the day. For Queensland and the federal parliament “did not vote” there means the member held a seat that day, as their service is recorded; for the other earlier parliaments the record of who held a seat could not be read, so only the printed Aye, No and paired votes are shown.
Record last updated 2026-10-29.