Helen Haines

Helen Haines (Helen Mary Haines, born 21 September 1961) is an Australian independent politician, nurse, midwife and rural health researcher. She has been the federal Member for Indi, a House of Representatives seat in north-east Victoria, since the 2019 federal election.

Nursing and research

Haines grew up on a dairy farm near Colac in south-west Victoria. She trained as a nurse and midwife in Melbourne, beginning at St Vincent's Hospital, and moved to north-east Victoria in 1986. There she became matron (director of nursing) of the Chiltern Bush Nursing Hospital and later led midwifery services at Wangaratta's hospital. She completed a master's degree in public health and, in 2012, a doctorate in medical science at Uppsala University in Sweden, with a thesis on women's fear of childbirth, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at the Karolinska Institute. She has published research on childbirth, maternal health and rural health. Before entering parliament she was a senior research fellow and director of the Rural Health Academic Network in the University of Melbourne's Department of Rural Health.

Member for Indi

In January 2019 the community group Voices 4 Indi endorsed Haines to succeed the retiring independent MP Cathy McGowan, who backed her candidacy. She won the seat at the May 2019 election, becoming the first independent in Australian history to succeed another independent in a federal seat. She was re-elected in 2022 and again in 2025, when she took 58.6% of the two-candidate vote against the Liberal candidate.

In parliament she has concentrated on integrity in government, rural health, regional housing and energy. In 2021 she introduced a private member's bill for a federal integrity commission; after the 2022 election she was deputy chair of the joint select committee that examined the Albanese government's National Anti-Corruption Commission legislation, and then deputy chair of the joint committee overseeing the commission until parliament was dissolved in March 2025. She has also introduced bills to lower the cost of home batteries and to fund housing infrastructure in regional areas.

October 2026 incident

On 19 October 2026 Haines was struck by a vehicle outside her electorate office in Murphy Street, Wangaratta, and was taken to hospital with critical injuries. Victoria Police said the driver, a 43-year-old man, was detained at the scene by a passer-by and arrested, and that they were investigating whether it was an intentional act. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said it "wasn't an accident" and appeared to be "a deliberate act", and that the Joint Counter Terrorism Team was involved; police said there was no ongoing threat to the community.

Online

Her official website is helenhaines.org. She posts as @helenhainesindi on X, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, TikTok and Bluesky.