The 2022 federal election saw a tidal wave of women from diverse backgrounds not only run for office, but storm home with decisive victories. 58 women were elected to the lower house, including 19 first-term MPs.

One of those MPs is Labor’s Sally Sitou, who won the seat of Reid in Sydney’s inner west. Running on a platform of climate action, equality and integrity earned Sitou a significant 8.4 percent swing in a previously Liberal seat.

But like many of the women elected last year, Sitou is not a career politician. She spent more than a decade working in the international education and international development sectors, and prior to her campaign was employed at the University of Sydney.

The catalyst for Sitou’s political pursuit – or her “audacious dream” as she termed it during her first speech to parliament – was simple: she wanted to see a fairer Australia; one that continued to produce opportunities for people from all walks of life. And, she wanted to show her son Max that she was serious about helping to shift the dial on Australia’s climate change response.

“I could not sit back and not participate and do something about that because I could see the world that we were leaving him,” she shares.

“In the very few years that he's been alive, he's lived through the 2019 bushfires, and they stretched on for months. He’s also lived through the flooding and rain that we had last year. All of these things are going to become more frequent and more severe. And I just really wanted to be part of making change in that space in my own little way.”

While Sitou concedes it took the motivation of several friends, family members and colleagues to set the wheels in political motion, she also felt propelled by the story of her Chinese parents who had fled Laos during the Vietnam war to seek refuge in Australia.

Celebrating their 40th anniversary during their daughter’s first speech to parliament, Sitou noted how her parents had come to Australia, and positively contributed to the economy and society as factory workers while raising children who were nurtured through good public education. They fell in love with the western Sydney community they forged a life in.

But it was their daughter’s election that had cemented for her parents “that this is a country that really has embraced and accepted them” says Sitou. “Good governments and the policies that they make” had enabled her family to thrive and truly make and consider Australia home.

“My family was able to succeed in this country because of decisions of successive governments and across the aisle,” she reflects.

“In my first speech, I talked about the fact that it was a Coalition government that decided to welcome refugees from Indochina into this country, and that had a profound impact on our life. But then it was also Labor governments that introduced things like Medicare, good public education – and they were fundamental to making sure that we were able to build a successful life here.”

For that reason, Sitou feels “a sense” that migrants “ought to step up and play a role” in how society continues to be shaped and to ensure it is both supportive and inclusive of everyone. “There’s a responsibility on people like me to contribute to this country to have a say, to participate in the political debate. And to really try to shape this country into what we want it to be.”