Skip to content

AUSPOLLIEWATCH EVERY CLAIM LINKS TO ITS SOURCE · NOT A SCORECARD

Portrait of Tara Cheyne

Tara Cheyne

Australian Labor Party · ACT · ACT Legislative Assembly · Ginninderra (ACT) · incumbent

Tara Maree Cheyne was born on 30 December 1986 in Cairns, Queensland, and spent her youth living with her parents in several rural Queensland mining towns. She boarded at Rockhampton Grammar School, graduating as Academic Dux in 2003, then completed a dual Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Journalism at the University of Queensland and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Canberra (2013). She moved to Canberra in 2008 and began a public service career in the Attorney-General's Department before entering the ACT Legislative Assembly in 2016. [source]

Sourced positions

A verified position is the member's own stated view or vote, supported by the listed sources. This page records public statements and conduct only — see methodology.

Abortion & reproductive policy verified

Cheyne voted Aye in the ACT Legislative Assembly division of 25 June 2024 to agree to the Health (Improved Abortion Access) Amendment Bill 2024, which expanded who may prescribe abortion medication and required conscientious objectors to provide referral information.

Voluntary assisted dying verified

Voted in favour of the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2023, which passed the ACT Legislative Assembly 20 votes to 5 on 5 June 2024 (recorded in the Ayes). Cheyne was the minister who introduced the bill.

Gender & LGBTQ+ policy verified

Stated position and record: as Human Rights Minister, Cheyne championed the 2024 ACT reforms giving greater choice of gender descriptors on birth certificates, removing the clinical-treatment requirement and lowering the application age, saying the amendments were 'about a person's fundamental human rights, their identity and being able to express who they are'; she also voted with Labor to pass the 2020 conversion practices ban.

Religious freedom verified

As Minister for Human Rights, Cheyne introduced and championed the Discrimination Amendment Bill 2022; in the debate (23 March 2023) she stated the bill amended the exceptions for religious bodies to 'strike a better balance between the right to equality and the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief,' citing examples such as prayer groups still being able to exclude people who do not share the relevant religious conviction. This is a stated position and a recorded contribution to debate.

Drugs & law and order verified

As City and Government Services Minister, Cheyne told the Assembly in December that the territory government was not considering laws to stop medicinal cannabis users from being automatically disqualified from driving, while noting the ACT government 'is closely monitoring the evolving evidence base for driver impairment following tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) intake to inform future considerations.' (Stated position.)

Record last updated 2026-08-13.