Sheed honoured for services to Victorian people and parliament

It’s a list that has led to her being recognised as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the general division in this year’s Australia Day honours for “significant service to the people and parliament of Victoria and to the community”.

“Well, I feel honoured,” she said.

“It’s always nice to be recognised, and I was very surprised, but pleased and happy, to graciously accept the honour.

Ms Sheed said she learnt of the award via an email that turned up in her inbox one day.

“I read it quickly, and in the first paragraph, it tells you what it is, and yeah, it’s a really nice feeling,” she said.

Ms Sheed was raised in Jerilderie, but attended boarding school at Kilbreda College, Mentone, Canterbury Girls High School and then completed a law degree at the University of Melbourne, followed by work in the Northern Territory and Melbourne, before settling in Shepparton.

“Pursue every opportunity that comes your way because dreams are just that, they are worth having and they are worth pursuing.

“But every day, there’ll be an opportunity that’s presented to you in some little way,” she said.

“You can make a decision about it, and that decision can have a big impact on how you feel about yourself and what it might do for someone else and also how it affects your trajectory in life in so many ways,” she said.

It’s a mantra that led her to cause one of the biggest political earthquakes in Victoria’s history when, standing as an independent, she won the previously-safe Coalition seat of Shepparton in 2014.

She retained the seat at the 2018 state election but lost to the Nationals’ Kim O’Keeffe in 2022.

“It’s a bit like the sporting facility (Shepparton Sports Stadium) at the moment,” she said.

“There comes a time when it’s just so obvious that something needs to be done, and so many of these decisions are political.

“I learnt that along the way. It became fairly obvious that that was the way it was, and so making this a marginal seat and standing on very short notice as an independent was my way of saying, ‘Hey, have a look at us’.”

Ms Sheed has lived most of her life in regional areas.

She said it was the efforts community members contributed beyond their employment that made them great places to live.

“Like so many people, we all do our job, but we all do so much more, and it’s all the people who do so much more, I think, who just make communities operate better and, you know, generally uplift the life that we lead in regional areas,” she said.

Whether it’s been working in family law and often dealing with people during the most difficult times of their lives, as a trustee of the Goulburn Valley Health Foundation or as a co-chair of the Goulburn Murray Irrigation District Water Leadership Forum, Ms Sheed said she had always tried to work towards a better future for the community.

“It’s not just about today,” she said.

“It’s how do we fight as a regional community to change the fact that we have poor educational outcomes, we have poor health outcomes?

“We have to fight for ourselves to try and have that addressed at the government level, and that drives me.”

A former chair of the Fairley Leadership Program board, Ms Sheed encouraged people to seek out such mentoring initiatives or to simply volunteer for a community group.

“It depends on your stage in life as to what you’ve got the time and capacity to attend to, but every role really helps to build our community,” she said.

And, currently working as one of three administrators of Moira Shire Council, Ms Sheed sees herself continuing to make a contribution for some time yet.

“It’s very hard for me to ever think of stopping,” Ms Sheed said.

“I heard that someone I know has started doing gardening and reading books and I know I’m not at that stage yet. Sounds lovely, but I’m a person who’s always looking for something to do and I like finding solutions for things.

“You can’t always solve everyone’s problems, but there’s a lot you can do to contribute towards making things better and I like to do that.”