Jan Wilson OAM

Jan Wilson committed her career and life to serving as a politician. Her contributions benefited many in Victoria, particularly migrant and elderly communities in the City of Dandenong.

Inducted:
2017
Category:
Local Champion

Jan migrated to Australia from Scotland in the early 1960s.

In 1977, Jan became the second woman to be elected to the City of Dandenong, where she represented the north ward until 1986.

As a local councillor, Jan had a genuine interest in supporting senior citizens, people with a disability and multicultural communities. In 1985, a year before her retirement from council, Jan was elected the first MLA for the Australian Labor Party’s new seat of Dandenong North.

Jan’s time in Parliament included the racing, local government, aged care and consumer affairs portfolios. Following her retirement from politics in 1999, Jan was appointed to the board of Greyhound Racing Victoria (GRV) and shortly afterwards, became chairman.

During her time as chairman, GRV began the process of reforming its practices, particularly in animal welfare. As a result, the Greyhound Adoption Program (GAP) at Seymour was established, providing a modern facility to rehome greyhounds unable to race.

Since its establishment, GAP has experienced incredible success, rehoming thousands of dogs across Victoria. This success is due, in no small part, to Jan’s 10 years of leadership which also resulted in unprecedented growth in the industry and massive changes to animal welfare practices.

In 2009, Jan was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia Medal for services to the racing industry and to animal welfare.

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