Fatima Payman

Some Lesser Known Facts About Fatima Payman

• Fatima Payman was born into an Afghan political family, as her paternal grandfather was a member of parliament in Afghanistan.

• Her maternal grandparents moved from Uzbekistan to Afghanistan, where her mother later married her father and settled in Kabul.

• Her family fled to Pakistan from the Taliban when she was 5 years old.

• In 1999, her father arrived in Australia by boat. and was in Immigration detention. He then worked as a security guard, kitchen worker, and taxi driver.

• When she was 8 years old, she came to Australia with her mother and 3 siblings and settled in Perth. Her mother later started giving driving lessons.

• She excelled in her formal studies and graduated as a head girl from her high school.

• From February 2018 to February 2020, she worked at a TerryWhite Chemmart outlet as a pharmacy assistant and chemist.

• Inspired by her father’s experiences of workplace abuse and exploitation, she joined the Labor Party in 2014 and the United Workers Union (UWU) in 2018 as an organiser.

• She later became the president of Young Labor Western Australia.

• From 30 May 2019 to 23 December 2020, she worked as electorate officer for Australian senator Pierre Yang.

• At the age of 27 years, she became the youngest senator in the 2022 Australian parliament.

• She showed her support for Gaza in November 2023 by wearing a pin of the Aboriginal and Palestinian flags.

• She made headlines in May 2025 with her accusations of racism and filed a formal complaint against an older male colleague allegedly made sexually suggestive and culturally insensitive comments to her during an official event.

• She has an obsession with colour coordination.

• She likes painting by numbers.

• She can speak English and the Afghan language, Dari.

• She likes eating McDonald’s French fries by dipping them in ice cream.

• Her life’s motto is “Stand up for what you believe in, even if you stand alone.“

• Her first phone was a Nokia 8250.

• She loves cooking for the family at family BBQs.