Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has put off a trip to the Middle East and Europe following the death of his Minister for Women Fiona Richardson.
Ms Richardson, who was also Australia's first family violence prevention minister, died aged 50 on Wednesday night just a day after revealing her battle with multiple tumours.
Mr Andrews deferred his planned week-long trip to Israel and Greece on Sunday out of respect for Ms Richardson.
Despite her publicised battle with breast cancer in 2013 and announcement more than two weeks ago of a serious illness - revealed on Tuesday to be cancer - Ms Richardson's shock death rocked Spring Street.
Mr Andrews said last year's royal commission into family violence was the her greatest legacy.
"(Her work) has saved lives and will continue to save lives into the future," he said.
Ms Richardson "was a person of conviction, of character, of extraordinary composure" and could never be replaced, Mr Andrews also said.
Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said Ms Richardson "left a mark in this place that few will."
"There are many Victorian women that will lead a happy and safe life as a result of the work that she has done," he told the parliament.
Ms Richardson was a Labor right factional leader who joined the party in 1991 and won the inner-north electorate of Northcote in 2006.
Her death will force a by-election in the seat, which has undergone demographic change in recent years, with polls suggesting the Greens are a chance to take it from Labor in 2018.
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