Mark served as Minister for Ageing and Australia’s first Minister for Mental Health in the Gillard Government. He has also held the ministries of Housing, Homelessness, Social Inclusion, Climate Change, Water and the Environment. Before Mark was elected to parliament, he worked for some of the most disadvantaged people in the community as an official with the United Workers Union (then United Voice) for over 15 years, including 11 years as State Secretary. In 2003 he was awarded the Centenary Medal for services to trade unionism. He has long been a champion for society’s most vulnerable, and was a member of the South Australian Social Inclusion Board during its major review of the South Australian mental health system. In 2013 Mark was awarded the Alzheimer’s Disease International Award for Outstanding Global Contribution to the Fight Against Dementia. Mark served as President of the South Australian Branch of the ALP in 1997 to 1998 and as a member of the ALP National Executive from 2000 to 2014. He served as Labor’s National President from 2015 to 2018. Mark is the author of Advanced Australia – The Politics of Ageing, published in 2015; and Climate Wars, published in 2017. Mark holds a First Class Honours Law degree, an Arts degree and a Masters degree in International Relations.