Legislative Assembly · District of Albert Park
Sonya Semmens
Last verified 21 Aug 2026
Seat context — Albert Park›
Albert Park is an inner-Melbourne Legislative Assembly district covering Albert Park, Middle Park, Port Melbourne, Southbank, South Melbourne, South Wharf and parts of St Kilda. Labor has held the seat continuously since 1950; at the 2022 election Nina Taylor (Labor) defeated the Liberal candidate 61.15% to 38.85% on the two-candidate-preferred count, a margin of about 22.3 points. The Greens lifted their primary vote by roughly 4.5 points in 2022 but remained well short of overtaking Labor. Taylor is the first woman elected to represent Albert Park since the district was created in 1889.
Background
Her official Greens candidate bio says she has "spent my professional life helping others," citing work with people "facing domestic violence, health crises and communities facing the climate crisis" — no employer, job title, or organisation name is given. SSelf-stated — GREENS-SEMMENS-PROFILEAustralian Greens Victoria, "Sonya Semmens, Candidate for Albert Park"View source
The byline accompanying an article she wrote for Green Agenda describes her as "a community-builder and NGO worker, mum of two, living on the unceded Bunurong lands of the Kulin Nation." SSelf-stated — GREENAGENDA-SEMMENS-UBUNTUGreen Agenda, ""I am because we are"" (2025-06)View source
In the same Green Agenda piece she writes that "back in the early two thousands I worked with an international development agency," referencing Desmond Tutu's concept of "Ubuntu" — again without naming the agency. SSelf-stated — GREENAGENDA-SEMMENS-UBUNTUGreen Agenda, ""I am because we are"" (2025-06)View source
A March 2024 news report on her (then) federal candidacy for Macnamara described her occupation as "NGO consultant," "educator," and "small business owner." RReported — MIRAGE-SEMMENS-MACNAMARA2024Mirage News, "Greens Announce Sonya Semmens as Macnamara Electorate Hopeful" (1 Mar 2024)View source
A 2025 election profile of the Macnamara candidates reported that Semmens has "25 years working in the charity sector." RReported — STAROBS-SEMMENS-MACNAMARA2025Star Observer, "2025 Federal Election: Profiling the Candidates From The Electorate of Macnamara"View source
Her earlier Macnamara campaign website likewise describes over two decades of work in the not-for-profit/charity sector, consistent with her later Albert Park bio, but again names no specific employer. SSelf-stated — SEMMENS-CAMPAIGN-MYSTORYSonya Semmens for Macnamara (Australian Greens), "Sonya's Story"View source
No specific current employer, workplace, or formal job title has been identified in any public source reviewed — all available descriptions ('NGO worker', 'community-builder', 'NGO consultant', 'charity sector') are generic sector descriptions rather than a named position.
No record of a prior local council term, union office, party administrative position, or board/committee appointment was found across her Greens candidate profile, her own campaign websites, LinkedIn (page inaccessible but no such claims surfaced via search), or news coverage.
No party-organisational role (branch office, campaign management, preselection body) beyond standing as an endorsed candidate was found. Her public-facing history before this candidacy consists of two prior federal candidacies rather than an administrative or civic role — see Track Record for both.
Her Greens bio states, "When I moved to Albert Park, I found a place to call home" — no year or length of residency is given, so this reads as a vague, non-specific claim of local connection. SSelf-stated — GREENS-SEMMENS-PROFILEAustralian Greens Victoria, "Sonya Semmens, Candidate for Albert Park"View source
The same bio adds, "I love this community, and will spend hours listening to the stories of the people who live here" — generic campaign rhetoric with no concrete detail (no named streets, groups, or events). SSelf-stated — GREENS-SEMMENS-PROFILEAustralian Greens Victoria, "Sonya Semmens, Candidate for Albert Park"View source
Her earlier campaign website (for the neighbouring federal seat of Macnamara, which overlaps part of Albert Park) lists doorknocking "in neighborhoods like Elwood, Elsternwick, Albert Park, and Caulfield." SSelf-stated — SEMMENS-CAMPAIGN-COMMUNITYSonya Semmens for Macnamara (Australian Greens), "Our Community"View source
This indicates some pre-existing on-the-ground activity in the Albert Park area before she became its state candidate. SSelf-stated — SEMMENS-CAMPAIGN-COMMUNITYSonya Semmens for Macnamara (Australian Greens), "Our Community"View source
By her own account she was "born and raised in Dandenong" — outside the Albert Park electorate — to a nurse mother and an architect-turned-teacher father, so her family roots are not local to the seat she is contesting. SSelf-stated — GREENS-SEMMENS-PROFILEAustralian Greens Victoria, "Sonya Semmens, Candidate for Albert Park"View source
No mention of schools attended, sporting club membership, or specific community group affiliations within Albert Park, Middle Park, Port Melbourne, South Melbourne, Southbank, South Wharf, or the St Kilda portion of the seat was found in any source reviewed.
Platform
Where they stand, issue by issue — grounded in 2026 Victorian polling, not assumed. Every position is tagged with how we know it.
Ending homelessness and housing insecurity: "I'm determined to ensure no one experiences homelessness in a country as wealthy as Australia," drawing on her own experience as a renter who has "faced insecure housing."
Fairness and equal opportunity for all: "I believe in fairness, ensuring everyone gets a go."
Rebuilding community power in politics: "I've seen the power of community, and believe in the power of politics to improve people's lives for the better."
Cost-of-living relief through corporate accountability. In her 2025 federal campaign for the overlapping seat of Macnamara she said Labor gives "massive tax handouts to wealthy property investors" while rents and house prices soar.
She also campaigned to make big corporations "pay their fair share of tax" and end supermarket "price gouging and profiteering."
This framing has not yet been re-stated specifically for the 2026 Albert Park race, but is consistent with the fairness theme on her current Greens profile.
Stronger climate action. In the same 2025 federal campaign she criticised Labor for "continu[ing] to approve new coal and gas" and called for a safe climate future with no new fossil-fuel projects.
This is consistent with the Victorian Greens' 100%-renewables-by-2030 platform she is running under for Albert Park in 2026.
What Victorians say matters most
5 poll-led issuesCost of living and crime have ranked 1st or 2nd in every Victorian poll since mid‑2025, with debt and housing close behind — see schema §3 for the polling this grouping is based on (DemosAU, Ipsos Issues Monitor, Roy Morgan). The 0-10 'priorityScore' on each candidate's issue entries is NOT a measure of true importance or an independent ranking of what a candidate actually cares about. It reflects how much detail and specificity exists in what that candidate has actually said publicly on that issue -- a named policy mechanism and a verified voting record score higher than a one-line stated priority, regardless of the issue's real-world weight. Render this distinction in the UI wherever the score appears; do not label it just 'Priority' without the qualifier.
Cost of living
Party platform (statewide and the Albert Park seat page) commits to capping/freezing rent rises, cracking down on supermarket price gouging, and genuinely free public schools (removing average ~$620/year 'voluntary' fees).
It also commits to free contraception, public transport fares capped at roughly $3/day under a 'Climate Ticket,' and removing the 3% public-sector wages cap.
Personally, in her 2025 federal campaign for the overlapping Macnamara electorate she framed cost-of-living as a fairness issue, attacking Labor's property-investor tax handouts and calling for corporations to "pay their fair share."
No Albert Park-specific cost-of-living statement from Semmens herself has been located as of the August 2026 research date.
Crime and community safety
No candidate-specific statement on crime, bail law or policing by Semmens was found; this is the Victorian Greens' statewide party platform, not a personal statement.
It commits to raising the age of criminal responsibility to at least 14, repealing the 2025 bail-law changes and life sentences for children, and expanding bail-support and diversion programs (particularly regional).
It also commits to justice reinvestment over 'tough on crime' campaigns, prohibiting racial profiling and restricting Taser use by general-duties police, and establishing an independent body to investigate deaths/injuries at police hands.
Housing affordability and supply
This is Semmens' most personally-grounded issue: as a renter she says "I'm determined to ensure no one experiences homelessness," and in her 2025 federal campaign said "I've lived the rental crisis" and described experiencing homelessness/couch-surfing as a single mother in 2017.
The Albert Park Greens seat platform commits $500 million to upgrade named local public housing estates (Emerald Hill Court, Barak Beacon, Stokes Street, Inkerman Heights, Pinaroo Village, Bay-Nott, Park Towers), alongside a stated aim to build 200,000 new affordable homes and end homelessness by 2030.
Note this seat-page figure differs slightly from the statewide platform's separate pledge to double public housing via 88,000 new homes and end homelessness by 2036 — both are official Greens material but not fully reconciled with each other.
Statewide funding mechanism: a new 'ultra-wealth tax' on residential property portfolios over $5 million (5.3% land tax on the excess) projected to raise about $2 billion over four years, funding abolition of stamp duty for homes under $1.1 million and a $4 billion initial public-housing investment.
It also proposes a mandatory 30%-affordable-housing requirement in developments of 15+ units and replacing street auctions with fixed-price sales.
State government debt and fiscal management
No candidate-specific statement on state debt levels or fiscal strategy was found for Semmens.
The Victorian Greens' general approach (party platform, not candidate-specific) is to fund new spending through corporate and wealth taxation.
This includes a bank levy projected to raise about $14 billion over a decade, doubled coal/gas/oil royalties, a 2.5% property-developer levy plus a 75% windfall tax on rezoning profits, and a higher online-betting tax — rather than stating an explicit net-debt target or spending-cut program.
It also opposes further privatisation of essential services.
Infrastructure and public transport delivery
The Albert Park seat platform commits $100 million toward planning a Metro 2 rail tunnel (Clifton Hill to Newport) that would run through the electorate.
Alongside the statewide $821.5 million pledge for 5–10 minute tram/train frequency from 7am–7pm daily.
It also includes a $2.5 billion 'Big Bike Build' including a protected bike corridor on Inkerman Street (Hotham Street to St Kilda Road) and a bike superhighway from Elsternwick to Coburg, over 1,000 new EV chargers, and $250 million for accessible train-station upgrades.
No statement was located specifically addressing cost or timeline overruns on major projects such as the Suburban Rail Loop.
Also on the record
6 substance issuesThese don't top “biggest issue” polling, but carry real 2026 policy weight and genuine differences between parties.
Education and training
The Albert Park seat platform commits $1.46 billion toward public schools and eliminating out-of-pocket costs for local families.
Statewide platform: fully fund all government schools to Gonski levels (accusing Labor of a $2.4 billion cut/delay of funding to 2031), eliminate 'voluntary' parent contributions averaging $620/year per child, and cap private-school funding at 100% of Gonski-recommended levels.
It also proposes to raise teacher pay (citing Victorian teachers as 'the lowest paid in Australia,' facing an average 12 unpaid overtime hours/week), free music/drama/language access, free school solar, and an independent school-building authority for maintenance.
No specific statement on TAFE/VET or university funding was located.
Health and healthcare access
The Albert Park seat platform reiterates the statewide $5 billion additional health-funding pledge and expanded mental health, dental and aged-care services for the local area.
Statewide platform detail: $500 million for more free GPs/nurses/allied health in under-served postcodes plus a new Office of the Chief General Practitioner; $120 million ($40m/year) for public dental to cut waiting lists; 500 more psychologists/psychiatrists for schools and clinics.
It also includes 200 more detox/rehab beds; addressing ambulance ramping via $1.3 billion for aged-care/disability/rehab beds outside hospitals to free up acute capacity.
It also proposes free contraception and $5m/year for abortion services; $10 million for public homebirth programs and reopening hospital-linked birth centres.
Urban planning and housing density
The Albert Park seat platform requires 20% green open space and 40% canopy cover in medium/high-density developments, and mandates green roofs and solar on buildings of 5+ storeys.
It also pledges to 'restore community planning powers' and limit VCAT's ability to override council planning decisions in favour of developers.
A locally specific green-space commitment: a $1.2 million 'Pollinator Corridor' running from Westgate Park to the Royal Botanic Gardens, passing through the electorate.
Statewide platform target of 40% urban tree-canopy coverage and urban rewilding programs in parks, nature strips and creeks.
Climate and energy transition
Statewide platform: 100% renewable electricity by 2030 (from a roughly 70%-coal baseline), a legislated 3-gigawatt offshore-wind target by 2030 with Latrobe Valley Authority funding for workforce transition, and an orderly coal-plant phase-out by 2030 with guaranteed jobs for coal/gas workers.
It also targets 1 million homes off gas within six years, an 80% emissions cut by 2030 and net zero by 2035 'or sooner,' backed by $10 billion for new renewable infrastructure.
Rather than campaigning specifically to expand the already-reinstated State Electricity Commission, the platform proposes a new public agency, 'Power Victoria,' to return poles-and-wires and electricity retailing to public ownership at cost price — a related but distinct public-ownership push.
No SEC-specific commitment was found.
In her 2025 federal campaign she personally criticised Labor for 'continuing to approve new coal and gas'; no Albert Park-specific climate statement from her has yet been located for 2026.
Treaty and First Nations affairs
Statewide platform backs strengthening Victoria's 2025 Treaty and expanding 'further local and statewide Treaties.'
It also backs criminal-justice reforms framed as redressing First Nations over-incarceration (raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14, repealing 2025 bail-law changes and life sentences for children, moving prison healthcare to Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations).
It also backs Traditional Owner management of national/state parks.
No mention of the Gellung Warl representative body by name was found in the material reviewed, and no personal statement by Semmens on Treaty implementation was located.
Regional and rural Victoria
Albert Park is entirely inner-Melbourne; as expected, no seat- or candidate-specific regional/rural statement from Semmens was found.
The only applicable material is the statewide party platform: ending all native-forest timber extraction and transitioning to plantation timber within a maximum of five years, and banning wood-fired electricity generation.
It also includes ending logging in town water catchments, and funding regional worker retraining and transition support.
Local & party context
2 fieldsNot scored the way the eleven issues above are — these are fixed facts about the seat and the party, not positions with more or less emphasis behind them.
A $500 million pledge to upgrade named Albert Park-area public housing estates: Emerald Hill Court, Barak Beacon, Stokes Street, Inkerman Heights, Pinaroo Village, Bay-Nott and Park Towers. SSelf-stated — GREENS-ALBERTPARK-PLATFORMAustralian Greens (Victoria), "A Better Future for Albert Park"View source
A $100 million commitment to plan a Metro 2 rail tunnel (Clifton Hill to Newport) that would run through the electorate. SSelf-stated — GREENS-ALBERTPARK-PLATFORMAustralian Greens (Victoria), "A Better Future for Albert Park"View source
A protected bike corridor on Inkerman Street between Hotham Street and St Kilda Road, part of the $2.5 billion 'Big Bike Build' Elsternwick-to-Coburg bike superhighway. SSelf-stated — GREENS-ALBERTPARK-PLATFORMAustralian Greens (Victoria), "A Better Future for Albert Park"View source
A $1.2 million 'Pollinator Corridor' running from Westgate Park to the Royal Botanic Gardens through the electorate. SSelf-stated — GREENS-ALBERTPARK-PLATFORMAustralian Greens (Victoria), "A Better Future for Albert Park"View source
The Beacon Cove Neighbourhood Association (Port Melbourne) and the Fishermans Bend Business Forum are jointly hosting an Albert Park candidates' forum on 15 October 2026 focused specifically on Port Melbourne/Fishermans Bend planning and development issues. RReported — BEACONCOVE-2026-ELECTIONBeacon Cove Neighbourhood Association, "State Election 2026" (2026-08)View source
As of the August 2026 research date this had not yet occurred, so no Semmens-specific responses on port/foreshore/Fishermans Bend planning are available. RReported — BEACONCOVE-2026-ELECTIONBeacon Cove Neighbourhood Association, "State Election 2026" (2026-08)View source
At a Greens campaign event covered by a local St Kilda newsletter, rather than delivering a set platform speech, Semmens asked the crowd to name their concerns — including wealth distribution, political donations, climate change, the NDIS, homelessness, arts funding, medical research and native forests. RReported — TWISK-GREENS-HOPETWiSK (This Week in St Kilda), "Greens aim high with hope"View source
She then worked to identify common threads across them. RReported — TWISK-GREENS-HOPETWiSK (This Week in St Kilda), "Greens aim high with hope"View source
This is reported as her characteristic campaign style rather than a specific local commitment. RReported — TWISK-GREENS-HOPETWiSK (This Week in St Kilda), "Greens aim high with hope"View source
Semmens is a fully endorsed Victorian Greens candidate. The seat has its own official party platform page ('A Better Future for Albert Park') that mirrors the statewide platform's figures on housing, health, education, transport and climate with added local detail.
No divergence was found between her personal statements (ending homelessness, corporate/property-investor tax fairness, opposing new coal and gas) and official Victorian Greens policy.
Track record & prior candidacies
2022 federal election, Division of Higgins (Victoria): Australian Greens candidate, announced August 2021 for the seat billed by the party as its "most winnable Liberal seat" following a redistribution. Received 22.6% of the first-preference vote (21,632 votes). VVerified — ABC-HIGGINS-2022, GREENS-SEMMENS-HIGGINS-ANNOUNCEABC News, "Higgins — Federal Election 2022 Guide"View sourceAustralian Greens, "Greens announce candidate in most winnable Liberal seat" (20 Aug 2021)View source
Labor's Michelle Ananda-Rajah won the seat from the Liberal Party — the first time Higgins had elected a Labor member — with 52.1% of the two-candidate-preferred vote (49,726) over Liberal candidate Katie Allen's 47.9% (45,785). VVerified — ABC-HIGGINS-2022, GREENS-SEMMENS-HIGGINS-ANNOUNCEABC News, "Higgins — Federal Election 2022 Guide"View sourceAustralian Greens, "Greens announce candidate in most winnable Liberal seat" (20 Aug 2021)View source
The Greens vote did not carry through to the final two-candidate-preferred count. VVerified — ABC-HIGGINS-2022, GREENS-SEMMENS-HIGGINS-ANNOUNCEABC News, "Higgins — Federal Election 2022 Guide"View sourceAustralian Greens, "Greens announce candidate in most winnable Liberal seat" (20 Aug 2021)View source
2025 federal election, Division of Macnamara (Victoria): Australian Greens candidate, her second federal run. Received 25.5% of the first-preference vote (25,561 votes), a swing of −4.2% against the prior Greens result in the seat. VVerified — ABC-MACNAMARA-2025, GREENS-SEMMENS-MACNAMARA-ANNOUNCEABC News, "Macnamara — Federal Election 2025 Guide"View sourceAustralian Greens, "Greens winnable Macnamara federal electorate candidate announced: Sonya Semmens"View source
Finished third; Labor's Josh Burns was re-elected for a third term with 61.8% of the two-candidate-preferred vote (62,004) over Liberal candidate Benson Saulo's 38.2% (38,334). VVerified — ABC-MACNAMARA-2025, GREENS-SEMMENS-MACNAMARA-ANNOUNCEABC News, "Macnamara — Federal Election 2025 Guide"View sourceAustralian Greens, "Greens winnable Macnamara federal electorate candidate announced: Sonya Semmens"View source
Her 2026 candidacy for the state seat of Albert Park is therefore her third electoral contest overall and her first at state level, following two unsuccessful federal campaigns in neighbouring inner-Melbourne electorates. VVerified — ABC-HIGGINS-2022, ABC-MACNAMARA-2025ABC News, "Higgins — Federal Election 2022 Guide"View sourceABC News, "Macnamara — Federal Election 2025 Guide"View source
Campaign, money & endorsements
Campaign logistics
Endorsements & Donations
Under the Victorian Electoral Commission's current public election funding rules for state elections, a candidate becomes eligible for public funding if they receive at least 4% of the first-preference vote in their contest, or are elected. Funding paid is based on three factors: the candidate's audited statement of election expenditure (due within 20 weeks of the election), the number of first-preference votes received, and the legislated maximum amounts, which are indexed annually to CPI.
For the 2026-27 financial year (covering the 28 November 2026 election), the indexed rate is $7.70 per first-preference vote for Legislative Assembly (lower house) candidates and $3.84 per vote for Legislative Council (upper house) candidates.
As a first-time Assembly challenger in safe-Labor Albert Park, Sonya Semmens' eventual funding eligibility will depend on her vote share on election night — her two prior federal campaigns (22.6% in Higgins 2022, 25.5% in Macnamara 2025) both cleared the equivalent 4% threshold, though a state Assembly result is a separate contest. No funding has been paid or claimed at this stage.
Per the VEC's own funding guidance for independent/non-elected candidates and its indexation schedule (vec.vic.gov.au/candidates-and-parties/funding/funding-for-independent-candidates and vec.vic.gov.au/candidates-and-parties/political-donations/indexation), accessed 2026-08-21.