Larissa Tahireh "Lara" Giddings (born 14 November 1972) is a former Australian politician who was the 44th Premier of Tasmania from 24 January 2011 until 31 March 2014, the first woman to hold the position. Born in Goroka, Papua New Guinea, she was a Labor Party member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly seat of Franklin from 2002 to 2018, and was the party's leader during her period as premier, replaced by Bryan Green after her government's defeat at the 2014 state election. Giddings came from the Labor Left faction.
Giddings was born on 14 November 1972 in Goroka, Papua New Guinea. As an adolescent, Giddings was educated at Methodist Ladies' College (MLC) in Melbourne as a boarder. At age 18, she joined the Australian Labor Party.
Giddings obtained Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws degrees from the University of Tasmania and went on to work in the Australian Senate as Whip's Clerk, then an electorate officer with Senator Sue Mackay. She travelled to Britain, where she did some temporary administrative work in London, and later worked as a Parliamentary research officer for the Member for Dunfermline East, Helen Eadie, in the Scottish Parliament.