Speaker of the NSW Legislative Assembly

Following the 2011 state election, on 3 May, Hancock was elected unanimously as Speaker of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, the first female Speaker of New South Wales Parliament.^[5][10][11] Following the 2015 state election, Hancock was re-elected unanimously to the role on 5 May.^[12]

As Speaker, Hancock was responsible for a number of infrastructure and security improvements to the New South Wales Parliamentary Precinct. Most notably, her tenure has overseen historic restorations to elements of the old Rum Hospital Building including the Wentworth Room, which was used as the Legislative Council chamber from 1829 to 1843, as well as the former parliamentary library, the Jubilee Room, built in 1906. Further to the historic restorations, she has overseen improvements to the modern office buildings housing member and parliamentary staff, as well overseeing upgrades to disability access and facilities.^{[citation needed]}

As Speaker, Hancock has sought to address a number of issues on the parliamentary precinct where there was disparity in what was available to women, and what was available to men. She organised a 'loo coup' where, along with a number of other female MPs and Ministers, she arranged for the substandard female bathrooms on a lower level of the parliament building to be swapped with the superior male bathroom facilities. This was part of a larger push to make NSW Parliament a fit place for female politicians.^[13][14]

Hancock presided over an incident in the Legislative Assembly where she was forced to call upon the Sergeant-at-arms to remove Michael Daley, a senior Labor Party shadow minister, who was accused of drunken misconduct in the chamber. Daley later apologised to Hancock.^[15]

In March 2017, Hancock, launched the 'NSW Parliament: A Fit Place for Women' exhibition which showcased the expanding role of women in NSW politics throughout its history. The exhibition was particularly well timed with the first female Liberal Premier of New South Wales, Gladys Berejiklian, coming to power in January of the same year.^[16][17]

Minister for Local Government

Following the 2019 state election Hancock was sworn in as the Minister for Local Government in the second Berejiklian ministry, with effect from 2 April 2019;^[18] and served in the first arrangement of the Perrottet ministry until she announce her resignation from the Perrottet ministry ahead of the reshuffle, citing difficulty to move past the resignation of the former Premier Gladys Berejiklian and the lack of women representation in the Perrottet ministry;^[19]