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AUSPOLLIEWATCH EVERY CLAIM LINKS TO ITS SOURCE · NOT A SCORECARD

Portrait of Stephen Dawson

Stephen Dawson

Australian Labor Party · Western Australia · Western Australian Legislative Council · Statewide (WA) · incumbent

Stephen Noel Dawson was born on 30 July 1975 in Dublin, Ireland, and attended a Gaelscoil (Irish-language immersion school) as a child. He and his family immigrated to Australia in 1989, when he was thirteen, settling in Perth, where he attended Hollywood Senior High School. He studied to become a French and Drama teacher at Edith Cowan University, joining the Labor Party at university orientation day in 1995, and became the first Irish-born MP in Western Australia since 1950. [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

Voted YES (Ayes) on the third reading of the Abortion Legislation Reform Bill 2023 in the WA Legislative Council on 20 September 2023, supporting the bill's passage. The bill decriminalised abortion (removing it from the Criminal Code), removed mandatory counselling and the doctor-referral requirement, and raised the gestational limit for additional restrictions from 20 to 23 weeks. The third reading passed 25 Ayes to 6 Noes.

Voluntary assisted dying verified

Stephen Dawson voted FOR the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2019 in the WA Legislative Council. On the conscience (free) vote, the member is recorded in the Ayes at the bill's second reading on 23 October 2019 (passed 25-10) and at the third reading on 5 December 2019 (passed 24-11).

Gender & LGBTQ+ policy verified

Labor MLC since 2013 and cabinet minister; openly gay and a prominent LGBTQ legislator. In December 2013 he and his partner Dennis Liddelow became the first same-sex couple to be legally married in Australia, in an ACT midnight ceremony; the marriage was annulled six days later after the High Court struck down the ACT law under the federal Marriage Act. He is listed among current openly LGBTQ WA state politicians.

Record last updated 2026-08-13.