Lynette Fay "Lyn" Allison (born 21 October 1946), has been an Australian Democrats member of the Australian Senate since July 1996, representing the state of Victoria. She was born in Melbourne, Victoria, and was educated at the University of Melbourne. She was an administrator, secondary school teacher and Director of the Employment and Economic Development Corporation before entering politics. She was a member of the Port Melbourne City Council 1992-94.

Allison was Deputy Leader of the Australian Democrats 2002-04. On November 3, 2004, following the resignation of Andrew Bartlett after the October 2004 election, she was elected unopposed as Leader. She took over the leadership at a time when the Democrats were at their lowest ebb since the party was founded in 1977, and was faced with the challenge of rebuilding the party's support before the election due in 2007, at which all the party's remaining Senate seats, including her own, will be up for election.

External links

• Personal homepage (http://www.democrats.org.au/people/index.htm?person_id=77&display=1&level=1)