Tamara Francine Smith is an Australian politician, representing Ballina in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for the Greens since 2015.

[3][better source needed] Smith's father was an American corporate manager and their Australian mother worked as a secretary, and they are one of four children - sisters Natasha and Nicole and brother Dominic who is a novellist[4] [5] The year following her parents' separation, the family home burned down and Smith's mother suffered a stroke and became disabled; the family struggled to make ends meet.

[4] When Smith moved to the North Coast, they got involved in grassroots environmental movements to save our north-east forests and Fraser Island, to stop uranium mining at Roxby Downs and to stave off mega-development in the Northern Rivers—the home of their maternal great-great-grandparents, greatgrandparents and grandmother, Josephine Frances Hegerty.

[4] Smith has also worked in the areas of social justice, Aboriginal affairs and public education advocacy and has a keen research interest in women’s rights and global warming.

[20] Smith is the portfolio holder for Education, Early Learning, Skills & TAFE, Premier & Cabinet, Older People, Veterans, Tourism and Disaster Relief, and is the Chair of the Joint Standing Committee on the Office of the Valuer General.