Her parents were born in small Slovenian villages, arriving in Australia unknown to each other as part of the post-war immigration scheme.

[3][4] After a failed attempt to secure a cadetship with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), she found work with the Domestic Violence Unit at the New South Wales Government's Office for the Status and Advancement of Women.

With the support of George Campbell's "hard left" faction, she won preselection for the seat against twelve other candidates, including ten other women.

[5] Plibersek supported Kim Beazley's unsuccessful candidacies in the 2003 ALP leadership votes, where he initially lost to Simon Crean and then later to Mark Latham.

[7] In July 2003 she and Anthony Albanese publicly criticised Crean for his rejection of the party's policy on a Second Sydney Airport.

In June 2005, after Latham was succeeded as opposition leader by Beazley, she retained the youth and status of women portfolios and was given responsibility for childcare.

As Minister for Human Services, Plibersek established emergency and recovery centres to provide urgent support to flood-affected communities.

[11] This goal was abandoned by the incoming Abbott government which cut homelessness funding and ended the National Rental Affordability Scheme and First Home Saver Accounts.

[14] Plibersek said that acceding to the Optional Protocol "will send a strong message that Australia is serious about promoting gender equality and that we are prepared to be judged by international human rights standards.

Along with the previous Health Minister, Nicola Roxon, Plibersek also implemented world-leading plain packaging of tobacco laws which saw smoking rates drop to 13%.

[17] Shorten said handing Ms Plibersek the education portfolio was "about putting a great policy thinker on the political frontline".

In a radio interview, Dutton called the claims "unfortunate" but "water off a duck's back", also noting that he wasn't "bald by choice" and was diagnosed with a skin condition several years ago.

[25] Plibersek's apology was welcomed by newly elected Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in an interview with ABC News.

Plibersek has argued that government should actively invest in the economy to promote growth and equality, calling for a federal commitment to a policy of full employment where "Australians who can work, can get a job".

In September 2020, she explained her priorities for economic recovery: "We need to be building things in Australia to support both the skilled trades people and the apprentices that we should be training right now.

In higher education Plibersek promised to reintroduce the demand driven system of university funding, creating an extra 200,000 places for students.

She has argued that the renewables industry is key to promoting new jobs, assisting local manufacturing, lowering carbon emissions and reducing power prices.

As part of the government's response to the Global Financial Crisis, Plibersek implemented a number of policies that both grew the housing stock and stimulated the Australian economy.

Plibersek has argued that significant new investment in social and public housing should be part of Australia's response to the coronavirus economic downturn.

Welfare Plibersek supports an increase to Newstart, Australia's then-unemployment benefit, arguing that the current rate is too low, "trapping people in poverty" who are "just surviving" on an allowance of $40 a day.

[28][29] First Nations people Plibersek supports instituting an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, based on the recommendations made in the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

LGBT rights From the 1990s onward, Plibersek campaigned for the removal of discrimination against same-sex de facto couples from federal legislation, raising the issue formally in Parliament on multiple occasions during her parliamentary career (including 1999,[30] 2006,[31] and 2008[32]).

In January 2020 Plibersek aroused controversy in an Australia Day speech, calling for children to learn the Australian citizenship pledge at school.

Israel Speaking in the House of Representatives on 17 September 2002, Plibersek said: "I can think of a rogue state which consistently ignores UN resolutions, whose ruler is a war criminal responsible for the massacres of civilians in refugee camps outside its borders.

[42] But the Executive Council of Australian Jewry expressed satisfaction in Plibersek's elevation to the deputy leadership, noting that she had ‘developed friendly relations with the Jewish Community’.

[45] Following the 2010 federal election, when Labor retained government with the support of the Australian Greens and independents, parliamentary numbers were finely balanced.

After some controversy, Plibersek was granted a pair by the Coalition so that her absence from the House of Representatives while on maternity leave did not affect the result of votes.

[47][48] In September 2016, her older brother Ray Plibersek was elected to Sutherland Shire council representing C Ward for the Australian Labor Party.