Joining this Reddit AMA is Bill Shorten, Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Canberra, former federal Labor leader and former Member for Maribyrnong. As at 2 February 2026, he has spent just over a year leading the university, having taken up the role on 20 January 2025. His move into higher education followed more than 17 years in federal Parliament and a career spanning law, the union movement and national politics.
Before entering Parliament, Bill trained as a lawyer and worked for the Australian Workers’ Union, eventually becoming its national secretary. He gained national attention during the 2006 Beaconsfield mine disaster, when he represented workers and their families. Elected to Parliament in 2007, he went on to hold responsibilities across disability services, financial services, superannuation, education and workplace relations.
Bill led the Australian Labor Party and served as Leader of the Opposition from 2013 to 2019, taking Labor to two federal elections. Disability policy has also been a significant part of his parliamentary career: he helped develop the National Disability Insurance Scheme in its early years and later served as Minister for the NDIS and Government Services from 2022 until January 2025. These roles placed him at the centre of debates about support, public services and government accountability.
At the University of Canberra, Bill has emphasised access to education, opportunity and the university’s contribution to its community. This AMA offers a chance to ask him about the transition from politics to university leadership, the challenges facing higher education and the lessons he draws from his time in Parliament. Readers can also put questions to him about disability policy, working life, political leadership and the decisions that shaped his career.
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