Valerie Callister

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Valerie Joy Callister (born 16 June 1950) is a former Australian politician. She was born in Leongatha to Herbert Charles Callister and Alma Joyce. She studied locally, earning a Bachelor of Arts from the Gippsland Institute of Advanced Education, a Diploma of Education from the State College of Victoria, and a Graduate Diploma in Health Administration from La Trobe University. She worked as a schoolteacher in Traralgon from 1975 to 1981. She joined the Labor Party in 1976 and was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly in a 1981 by-election as the member for Morwell. She was briefly unseated on a technicality in 1984 but served until 1988 when she retired from politics.

After leaving Parliament, she held several roles in health and community services in Gippsland: regional coordinator for Alcohol and Drug Services (1989–1992); state director of Greening Australia (1989–1991); manager of the Moe/Narracan and Traralgon Community Health Centres (1992–1995); operations manager (1995–1997); chief executive officer of Latrobe Community Health Centre (1997–2003); president of the Latrobe Regional Hospital Board (2000–2002); and regional director of the Department of Human Services from 2002.