The Australian Women's Register

Candice Burch was born in South Africa in 1988 and came to Australia in 1990. She grew up in Kalgoorlie and Sydney, before moving to Canberra in 2007 to study at the Australian National University (ANU). She was awarded Bachelor degrees in Economics and Arts from ANU and a Master of Business Administration from Deakin University. She worked in the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission from 2011 to 2012 and the Commonwealth Department of Finance from 2012 to 2017.

Burch has been a member of the Liberal Party of Australia (ACT Division) since 2007 and was President of the ANU Liberal Club (2010) and President of the ACT Young Liberals (2014 – 2015). She worked as an adviser to Alistair Coe MLA (2009 to 2011) and Zed Seselja MLA (2011).

In 2017 Burch won a seat for the electorate of Kurrajong in the ACT Legislative Assembly.  Steve Doszpot had been elected to the seat in 2016 but died in office in November 2017. A countback from the 2016 election preferences resulted in Burch gaining the seat. Burch’s election marked the first female-majority Liberal opposition in Australia.

Burch was Chair of the Estimates Committee in 2019 and Deputy Chair of the Environment and Transport and City Services Committee from February 2018 to October 2020. She was the Campaign Manager for the Canberra Liberals from November 2018 to May 2019.

In the 2020 election Candice Burch again ran for the seat of Kurrajong but lost her seat when she was narrowly defeated by Greens candidate Rebecca Vassarotti. During the campaign hundreds of her advertising corflutes were destroyed as part of what appeared to be an internal party dispute. A Liberal Party inquiry into those events following the election led to the suspension of two members.

When running for the Legislative Assembly Ms Burch identified the three key barriers to gender equality – workplace flexibility, access to affordable childcare, and violence against women. She also called for better support for women when entering and returning to the workforce and greater flexibility for both men and women in the workplace to enable women to better juggle work and family life and ensure that men also have the flexibility to take on greater roles as carers. She stated her commitment to equality of opportunity which she saw as largely beginning with access to education. Her background in finance led to her commitment to ensuring value for money from government spending.

In her spare time, Burch’s interests include listening to podcasts, rollerskating and taking her dogs to the beach. She supports the Sydney Swans in AFL, the CBR Brave in ice hockey, and Canberra Cavalry in Baseball.