[1] Sciacca was born on 13 June 1947 in the village of Piedimonte Etneo, Sicily, Italy.

[5][6] Sciacca joined the ALP at the age of 17 and was state president of Young Labor in 1972.

Sciacca successfully contested the 1987 Australian federal election and won the Division of Bowman.

Thereafter he started the Sam Sciacca Travelling Fellowship through which health experts would visit Australia and present lectures on the latest developments in research and technology.

[9] Sciacca died on 21 June 2017, aged 70, after prolonged suffering from cancer at St Vincent's Private Hospital in Brisbane.