[6][7] Major political liabilities during his time as premier included the red shirts scandal and[8][9] public housing tower lockdowns.

In 1983, his family moved from Glenroy to Wangaratta in northeastern Victoria, where he was educated at the Marist Brothers' Galen Catholic College.

[13] Andrews moved back to Melbourne in 1990 to attend Monash University, where he was a resident of Mannix College and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in politics and classics in 1996.

Labor took the lead in the polls in mid-2012 and held it for all but a few months until the election, though Andrews consistently trailed his Liberal counterparts, Ted Baillieu (2010–2013) and Denis Napthine (2013–2014) as preferred premier.

On 24 May 2016, Andrews made an official apology in parliament for gay men in Victoria punished during the time homosexuality was a crime in the state.

[21] Shortly after his taking office in 2014, Daniel Andrews ended the pay dispute with ambulance paramedics, which had started with the previous government.

On 21 April 2021, the Commonwealth Government used its veto powers to cancel the agreements made between Victoria and China under the Belt and Road Initiative.

[25] On 20 September 2017, the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2017 was introduced into the Legislative Assembly of the Victorian Parliament by the Andrews Labor Government.

The bill is modelled on the recommendations of an expert panel chaired by former Australian Medical Association president Professor Brian Owler.

The proposed legislation was said by proponents to be the most conservative in the world and contain 68 safeguards including measures designed to protect vulnerable people from coercion and abuse, as well as a board to review each case.

[48][49] On 20 June, with the state recording 25 cases, Andrews mostly delayed the planned easing of restrictions and reinstated stricter home gathering rules.

[51] Andrews announced a further two postcodes would return to stage 3 restrictions and a 'hard lockdown' of public housing towers in North Melbourne and Kensington on 4 July.

[53][54][clarification needed] On 7 July, Andrews announced the reimposition of stage 3 restrictions for metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire as the state recorded 191 new cases.

[65] By the time of the 2022 state election, Andrews' approval ratings had declined, but still remained relatively high, and he consistently led Opposition Leader Matthew Guy in opinion polling throughout his term.

[66][67][68][69] During the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic, conservative commentators criticised the Andrews' government for its introduction of vaccination mandates, prolonged lockdowns and failures in hotel quarantine in 2020.

Conservative-leaning media outlets, in particular those owned by News Corp Australia, gave Andrews the label "Dictator Dan" because of the strict measures his government took to suppress the spread of COVID-19.

His popularity remained high and the daily media conferences he gave to explain his position and reasoning were a television ratings hit.

[70][71][72] Several media outlets and commentators have accused News Corp of biased reporting against Andrews,[73][74] including former prime minister Kevin Rudd.

Many Eastern suburbs seats which were unexpectedly won in the landslide result of 2018 increased their margins for Labor, and the party also gained the electoral districts of Glen Waverley, Hastings and Ripon from incumbent Liberal MPs, and also retained the electoral districts of Bayswater and Bass which became notionally Liberal after the redistribution.

[citation needed] On 18 July 2023, Andrews and Deputy Premier Jacinta Allan announced the state government intended to cancel the 2026 Commonwealth Games.

[80] At a media conference on 26 September 2023, Andrews announced his resignation as premier, leader of the Victorian Labor Party, and member for Mulgrave, to take effect the following day at 5 pm.

[83] Andrews was succeeded as premier and party leader by his deputy Jacinta Allan after she was elected unopposed by the Labor caucus.

Andrews has furthermore been a long time republican, and supports abolishing Australia's constitutional monarchy in favour of a federal republic.

Andrews has voiced support throughout his career for same sex marriage, the protection and expansion of LGBT rights and the promotion of awareness and respect for transgender and transitioning people, particularly amongst young Victorians.

On the death of Australia's most senior Catholic, Cardinal George Pell, Andrews remarked that his government would make no offer for a state funeral and instead made the following statement: "For victim-survivors, [I want] to send the clearest possible message: We see you, we believe you, we support you and you're at the centre of not only our thoughts, not only our words, but our actions.

"[92]Andrews has somewhat conservative views towards illicit drugs, being against the decriminalisation of recreational marijuana[93] and against pill testing at music festivals.

[101] As part of the 2024 King's Birthday Honours, Andrews was awarded a Companion of the Order of Australia for "eminent service to the people and Parliament of Victoria, to public health, to policy and regulatory reform, and to infrastructure development.