Janice Heather "Jan" Jarratt (born 22 October 1958) is an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n politician. She was a teacher specialising in children with learning difficulties before entering parliament. A member of the Australian Labor Party

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

, she was elected to the Queensland Legislative Assembly

Queensland Legislative Assembly

The Queensland Legislative Assembly is the unicameral chamber of the Parliament of Queensland. Elections are held approximately once every three years. Voting is by the Optional Preferential Voting form of the Alternative Vote system...

 for the seat of Whitsunday

Electoral district of Whitsunday

The district of Whitsunday is an electoral division in the Queensland Legislative Assembly, Queensland, Australia.It encompasses the Whitsunday Islands as well as mainland centres from Bowen to the northern suburbs of Mackay, Queensland, including the tourist resort of Airlie Beach and the sugar...

in 2001. She was the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Tourism, Regional Development and Industry until her promotion to the ministry in 2011.