Jennifer Alden

Jennifer Alden is an Australian former politician and health broker who served as Mayor of the City of Greater Bendigo from 2020 to 2021 and as a councillor from 2016 to 2024. She served as Deputy Mayor twice.

Political career

In 1995, Alden co-founded the Bendigo branch of the Australian Greens. In the 2006 Victorian state election, Alden ran as the Victorian Greens lead candidate for the Northern Victoria Region, although she failed to be elected. In the 2014 Victorian state election, Alden unsuccessfully contested the division of Bendigo East. In the 2016 Australian federal election, she was listed as the eighth candidate on the Greens' Senate ticket for Victoria.
Alden was first elected to the City of Greater Bendigo Council in the 2016 election, where she received 8.86% of the primary vote in the Lockwood Ward. In 2017, she was elected as Deputy Mayor of Bendigo, serving under mayor Margaret O'Rourke until 2018. Alden was re-elected in the 2020 election with 18.23% and was subsequently elected by the council to the position of mayor, with Andrea Metcalf serving as Deputy Mayor. During her one-year term as Mayor, she worked to address the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, she was elected as Deputy Mayor for a second time, serving until 2023. Alden did not contest the 2024 election, citing in part the changes to the ward system under the Local Government Act 2020.
Alden holds a Doctorate of Public Health, Masters in Women's Health and is an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at La Trobe University.