On Monday 21 September 2015 Christian was sworn in as the Minister for Social Services and retained the portfolio following the re-instatement of the Coalition Government at the 2016 Federal election.
As the Minister for the largest single portfolio in the Federal Budget, with an annual expenditure of $154million, Christian oversights a Government commitment to evidence-based welfare reform to ensure the system remains fair and sustainable for future generations and produces outcomes designed to improve individual lives by decreasing welfare dependency. Christian is also overseeing the rollout of the National Disability Insurance Scheme across Australia and has established a special savings account to ensure the scheme is fully funded.
Prior to his appointed as Minister for Social Services, Christian was Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister with a primary focus on the continuation of the Government’s red tape reduction agenda and cyber security strategy.
Christian was born and raised in Western Australia and lives in Yanchep, in the northern part of the Pearce electorate, with his wife Jennifer and his son Lachlan.
Christian has previously served as a Minister in the Western Australian State Government, variously holding portfolios of Attorney General, Minister for Corrective Services and Treasurer of Western Australia.
As Attorney General, Christian managed a legislative agenda that decreased reported crime by 10 per cent in the State Government’s first year in office. As Treasurer, Christian delivered successive budget surpluses and budgeted for the provision of $600million to revitalise the Western Australian not-for-profit sector. Christian was also responsible for oversight of the largest infrastructure program in WA’s history and was the architect of the $1billion WA Future Fund.
Christian holds a Bachelor of Economics, a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Western Australia, as well as a Master of Science (Political Theory) from the London School of Economics.
Prior to politics, Christian worked as a lawyer in both the commercial and government settings; beginning his career at Clayton Utz and then later working as a Senior State Prosecutor for the Director of Public Prosecutions WA, where he prosecuted criminal trials for the State. He has also lectured at the University of Western Australia in law, public policy and economics and, immediately before entering Federal Parliament, Christian was the Professor of Law at Curtin University.
