Brendan O'Connor is the Federal Member for Gorton and is the Minister for Human Services, and Minister assisting School education in the Gillard Government.
Brendan O'Connor was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2001 as the Member for Burke.
At the 2004 federal election, Brendan was elected to the newly created electoral division of Gorton . He was re-elected at both the 2007 and 2010 elections.
Brendan has served as Deputy Chair of the Public Works Committee and the Employment and Workplace Participation Committee. From January 2006 he chaired Labor's Industrial Relations Taskforce enquiring into the Howard Government's controversial Work Choices legislation.
Brendan served as the Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Industrial Relations from December 2006 until the election of the Rudd Government, when he was appointed as Minister for Employment Participation. In the June 2009 reshuffle, Brendan became Minister for Home Affairs.
Following the 2010 federal election, Julia Gillard added the further responsibilities of Privacy and Freedom of Information to his portfolio. In December 2011, Brendan was appointed as the Minister for Human Services and Minister Assisting for School Education - a position he holds now.
Prior to entering Parliament, Brendan was a Union official from 1986 to 2001, most recently Assistant National Secretary of the Australian Services Union from 1993 to 2001.
Brendan holds a BA and a LLB from Monash University, and a Diploma, Harvard Trade Union Program, Harvard University.