[1] Stephen Jones is one of five children (Maree, Luke, Adam and Amanda) who grew up in Wollongong, New South Wales.

He was seconded to the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) in 2004, where he worked to secure compensation for victims of James Hardie asbestos-related disease.

Stephen Jones gained preselection for the seat of Throsby in late 2009, following the resignation of former Member Jennie George.

On 4 March 2014, Jones was promoted to Shadow Assistant Minister for Health after Melissa Parke stepped down due to personal and family reasons.

[18] In January 2025, Jones announced he would not contest his seat at the 2025 federal election, ending a 15-year career in Australian politics.

[19] As a co-convenor of Labor's left faction in the federal parliamentary Labor Party, Jones has spoken in the House of Representatives on a number of issues of importance to the progressive political agenda including same-sex marriage, asylum seekers, introducing a carbon price and other environmental issues.

[26] Jones has campaigned on a number of other issues as an MP, including restrictions on gambling ads during TV sports broadcasts, for local job seekers in the mining industry, the early rollout of the National Broadband Network to the region, Labor Party reform and renewal and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's asylum seeker agreement with Papua New Guinea.