Brustad graduated from high school in 1983, and attended the media courses at the folk high school in Ringsaker until 1985. She then worked as a journalist, among other publications she worked for LO-aktuelt, the news publication of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions.
Political career
Parliament
Brustad was elected to a county council seat in Hedmark following the local elections of 1987. In the 1989 election, she was elected to a seat in the Norwegian Parliament and left county politics.
Brustad became known for her role as Minister for Child and Family Affairs in 1996 when a law restricting the opening hours of shops on Sundays, holidays and after nine in the evening was passed. Only stores smaller than 100 square metres were allowed to remain open, such shops were somewhat disparagingly nicknamed "Brustadbuer" ("Brustad shacks"), until the law was quietly repealed in 2003.[1] Brustad herself claimed that she had not personally advocated the law, but that she was required to follow through on a decision within the Labour Party.[2]