Raff Ciccone
ALP Federal

Chair of Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee

Elected 2019

6 years

Senator for Victoria (VIC)

Federal - VIC

Raffaele, or “Raff”, was born in East Melbourne in 1983. His parents, Paola and Amato, are Italian immigrants who settled in Australia in the 1960s. Raff grew up in Melbourne’s southeast and attended Salesian College for high school.

Studying at Deakin University, Raff attained a Bachelor of Commerce (Financial Planning) and a Bachelor of Arts (Politics and Public Policy). He also holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Political Science and Government from the University of Melbourne as we...

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Committees

  • Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade
  • Intelligence and Security
  • Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade: References
  • Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade: Legislation
  • Appropriations, Staffing and Security
  • Scrutiny of Bills
  • Broadcasting of Parliamentary Proceedings

Key Staff

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First Speech in Parliament

24 July 2019

# First Nations Recognition # Labour Rights # Social Justice # Education Access # Wage Theft # Preventative Health # Homelessness # Gig Economy Protections # Immigrant Contributions # Community Support

Personal Background and Values

  • Raff Ciccone shares the immigrant story of his Italian parents, highlighting their journey to Australia and the importance of family and community.
  • He emphasises the values instilled by his parents: the significance of education, hard work, fairness, equality, and the dignity of individuals.

Policy Areas and Legislative Focus

  • Advocates for constitutional recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and a pathway to treaty, aiming to address injustices faced by First Nations people.
  • Calls for reforms in labour laws, including enhanced protections for temporary visa workers, increased penalties for wage theft, and regulations to adapt to the gig economy.
  • Highlights the need for an increase in Newstart payments to combat poverty among the unemployed and addresses the growing issue of homelessness by proposing comprehensive responses to its root causes.
  • Stresses the importance of preventative health measures and screening, drawing from personal experience with his wife's breast cancer diagnosis.

Commitment to Social Justice

  • Ciccone expresses his dedication to social justice and aims to put working Australians' issues at the forefront of national discussions. He reflects on the role of government in ensuring security and dignity for all citizens.

Read Full Speech

FAQ

Raff Ciccone represents the Senate seat of Victoria in the Australian Parliament.

Raff Ciccone is a member of the Australian Labor Party.

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In Parliament

ADJOURNMENT

Make Amazon Pay Campaign, Forestry Industry

Australian Federal Parliament • Senate • 25 November

AI Summary

  • Debate on the Make Amazon Pay campaign and its relevance to Australian workers.
  • Concerns raised about the forestry industry's sustainability and job security.
  • Call for fair wages and better working conditions in the context of multinational corporations.

COMMITTEES › Intergenerational Housing Inequity Select Committee

Membership

Australian Federal Parliament • Senate • 24 November

AI Summary

  • The Intergenerational Housing Inequity Select Committee has been formed.
  • Membership includes a range of parliamentarians from different political parties.
  • The committee's focus is on addressing housing disparities affecting various generations.

Social Media

Posted on Facebook • 13 December 2025

Health Social Services Cancer Neurological Conditions Health Funding Medicines

💊 Australians living with multiple sclerosis, rare cancers and other serious conditions will benefit from new and expanded listings on the PBS, giving access to life-changing medicines. These listings include Ocrelizumab (MS treatment), new cancer immunotherapy Toripalimab (recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma), and expanded access to Bimekizumab (skin condition hidradenitis suppurativa) and Pegcetacoplan (blood disorder paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria). Eligible patients will pay a maximum of $31.60 per script, or just $7.70 with a concession card, dropping to just $25 per script from 1 January 2026. Since July 2022, the Albanese Government has approved extra funding for 386 new and amended PBS listings. 💉💊 #auspol #pbsmedicine #cheapermedicines #health #multiples...
Open Post

Posted on Facebook • 12 December 2025

Agriculture

🚜 The extension of Right to Repair reforms to cover agricultural machinery has been welcomed by farmers as a game-changer that will deliver fairness, competition, lower costs and productivity gains across the farm sector. The Albanese Government's decision will give farmers the choice about who repairs their equipment and independent repairers the information they need to compete, keeping valuable equipment in the paddock, and strengthening local skills and regional economies. According to Productivity Commission estimates, expanding Right to Repair to agriculture could lift annual GDP by $97 million through increased grain outputs alone, simply by reducing downtime during harvest. 📈 #auspol #righttorepair #agriculture #ausag
Open Post

Posted on X • 13 December 2025

Health Cancer Neurological Conditions Health Funding Medicines

💊 Australians living with multiple sclerosis, rare cancers and other serious conditions will benefit from new and expanded listings on the PBS, giving access to life-changing medicines. These listings include Ocrelizumab (MS treatment), new cancer immunotherapy Toripalimab (recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma), and expanded access to Bimekizumab (skin condition hidradenitis suppurativa) and Pegcetacoplan (blood disorder paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria). Eligible patients w...
Open Post

Posted on X • 12 December 2025

Agriculture

🚜 The extension of Right to Repair reforms to cover agricultural machinery has been welcomed by farmers as a game-changer that will deliver fairness, competition, lower costs and productivity gains across the farm sector. The Albanese Government's decision will give farmers the choice about who repairs their equipment and independent repairers the information they need to compete, keeping valuable equipment in the paddock, and strengthening local skills and regional economies. According to ...
Open Post

Posted on LinkedIn • 12 December 2025

Defence Foreign Affairs and Trade Defence Forces

🇦🇺🇺🇦 Australia is providing a further $95 million support package to Ukraine – including a $50 million contribution to NATO's Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL), ADF materiel and equipment and advanced drone technologies – bringing Australia's total assistance to over $1.7 billion. With this commitment, Australia and New Zealand become the first non-NATO nations to contribute to the PURL initiative, which supplies Ukraine with critical military equipment. The final tranche of Aust...
Open Post

Posted on LinkedIn • 10 December 2025

Emergency Management Telecommunications Emergency Services

At yesterday’s Senate hearing on Triple Zero service outages, I questioned Samsung and the telcos about certain phones being unable to fallback onto a network in an emergency. The hearing heard evidence that a number of older devices require software updates to ensure they can reliably connect to 000. Ongoing collaboration across the industry is required to maintain reliable access to emergency services for all Australians. #auspol
Open Post