Cr Dr Olivia Ball takes on a second term

In her second term at the City of Melbourne, Dr Olivia Ball is the only councillor elected on the Greens ticket and now faces the challenge of being a voice of “progressive” Melbourne.

As the council’s head of Aboriginal Melbourne and deputy portfolio lead for environment, Cr Dr Ball is focused on protecting biodiversity and ensuring a liveable climate, approaching every issue with an understanding of its impact on the human rights of Melburnians.

She finds herself on a more conservative council than in her first term and conceded that, while this was a challenge, she was prepared to be the voice of the progressive and diverse city she grew up in and has worked in for decades.

Before stepping into Town Hall as a councillor, Dr Ball had a long career in the human rights sector, stemming from her early experience as an anti-apartheid activist during childhood. She described this as a formative experience that had a “profound” impact on shaping her worldview.

“I’ve been an activist my whole life,” Cr Dr Ball told CBD News. After leaving school at 17 with a yearning to help those in need, she decided to pursue psychology.

She worked primarily with refugee survivors of torture and trauma. However, after a decade, she retrained in international development and spent time in the Pacific, working as a schoolteacher in Tonga at the turn of the century.

While in Tonga, Cr Dr Ball read The Greens by Senator Bob Brown and ethicist Peter Singer. This was another pivotal moment in her political journey and inspired her to join the Greens political party.

Despite having been a Labor member during her undergraduate years, Cr Dr Ball said she strongly aligned with the values and philosophy of the Greens, and that both Bob Brown and Peter Singer had a profound influence on her.

It was around this time that Cr Dr Ball also became interested in pursuing a career in human rights. However, there were few opportunities to do so in Australia.

She decided to travel to the United Kingdom to undertake a Master’s degree in human rights at the University of London, later returning to Australia to complete a PhD in human rights at Monash Law School.

However, after decades of work in the sector, Cr Dr Ball began to consider a career in politics.

“Once I got into the space of trying to advance human rights and prevent their violation, that’s often a question of influencing government and key decision-makers,” she said.

Cr Dr Ball said she began to wonder whether there was more she could do “on the other side of the fence,” and felt compelled to push for change from within government rather than from outside.

Her first attempt was a federal tilt in 2016 against the then-leader of the Opposition Bill Shorten. She was unsuccessful, receiving 10 per cent of the primary vote.

That same year, she stood as the Greens’ – and sole female – Lord Mayoral candidate for the City of Melbourne, placing second in the leadership race to Robert Doyle.

Despite two valiant but unsuccessful attempts to enter politics, Dr Ball was not deterred. She won her bid for council in 2020 and has since become a staunch defender of the rights of Melburnians throughout her tenure.

She is proud of what was achieved in her first term, citing the “Make Room” transitional housing project as a major win for the city.

However, she acknowledges that more can always be done and looks forward to the construction of much-needed social housing on Victoria St in West Melbourne.

While Cr Dr Ball remains the only Greens councillor – a challenge she does not take lightly – she emphasised that local government differed from other tiers.

“You don’t have a winner-takes-all party forming government while everyone else is the opposition. We are government, and we govern together.”

With three-and-a-half years remaining in the current term, Dr Ball is committed to being a progressive voice on council – a councillor who stands up for all Melburnians, challenges when and where needed and draws on her wealth of experience helping our most vulnerable. •