Dorinda Rose Cox (born c. 1976) is an Australian politician and a Yamatji-Noongar woman. She is the first

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

woman to represent Western Australia in the Senate. In 2020 she won

preselection Preselection is the process by which a candidate is selected, usually by a political party, to contest an election for political office. It is also referred to as candidate selection. It is a fundamental function of political parties. The presele ...

as the

Australian Greens The Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, are a confederation of Green state and territory political parties in Australia. As of the 2022 federal election, the Greens are the third largest political party in Australia by vote and th ...

' lead

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

candidate in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, and the following year she was appointed to fill the

casual vacancy In politics, a casual vacancy (''casual'' in the sense of "by chance") is a situation in which a seat in a deliberative assembly becomes vacant during that assembly's term. Casual vacancies may arise through the death, resignation or disqualifi ...

caused by the resignation of Senator

Rachel Siewert Rachel Mary Siewert (born 4 November 1961) is an Australian politician. She was a senator for Western Australia from 2005 to 2021, representing the Australian Greens, and served as the party's co-deputy leader from 2017 to 2018. She previously w ...

. Dorinda Cox was then elected as the Australian Greens Senator for Western Australia at the 2022 Federal Election.

Early life

Cox was born in

Kojonup, Western Australia Kojonup is a town south-east of Perth, Western Australia along Albany Highway in the Great Southern region. The name Kojonup refers to the "Kodja" or stone axe made by Aboriginal Australians, from the local stone. History The Noongar people ar ...

, to

Yamatji Yamatji (or Yamaji) is a Wajarri word that has at least three different meanings: * a member of the Watjarri people * any Aboriginal Australian person from the Murchison region of Western Australia * any group made up of members of different I ...

and

Noongar The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian peoples who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the so ...

( Kaniyang and

Yued Yued (also spelt Juat, Yuat and Juet) is a region inhabited by the Yued people, one of the fourteen groups of Noongar Aboriginal Australians who have lived in the South West corner of Western Australia for approximately 40,000 years. Europea ...

) parents. Her family has experienced "five generations of child removal in her matriarchal line". Her grandfather was taken from his family and country in the

Gascoyne The Gascoyne region is one of the nine administrative regions of Western Australia. It is located in the northwest of Western Australia, and consists of the local government areas of Carnarvon, Exmouth, Shark Bay and Upper Gascoyne. The Gasc ...

as an infant to be raised at the

New Norcia New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

mission, where his name was changed. Cox grew up in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, leaving school in 1994 at the age of 17 to become a cadet with the

Western Australia Police The Western Australia Police Force, colloquially WAPOL, provides police services throughout the state of Western Australia, an area of 2.5 million square kilometres, the world's largest non-federated area of jurisdiction, with a population ...

. Cox was a police cadet from 1994-1996 and an Aboriginal Police Liaison Officer from 1996-2002, where she conducted specialised training in child abuse, sexual assault interviewing and frontline policing, including the family violence unit. She left the force at the age of 27 to work for

Centrelink The Centrelink Master Program, or more commonly known as Centrelink, is a Services Australia master program of the Australian Government. It delivers a range of government payments and services for retirees, the unemployed, families, carer ...

. In 2008, Cox was appointed to the

Rudd Government Rudd Government may refer to the following Australian governments: * Rudd government (2007–10) Rudd Government may refer to the following Australian governments: * Rudd government (2007–10) * Rudd government (2013) {{Dab ... * Rudd gov ...

's National Council to Reduce Violence Against Women. She has also served on the board of anti-violence organisation

Our Watch Our Watch, formerly Foundation to Prevent Violence Against Women and their Children, is an Australian organisation that exists to help prevent violence against women and their children. Founded in mid-2013 with Natasha Stott Despoja as founding ...

, on the WA Ombudsman's Advisory Committee on Child Death Reviews and Family Violence Homicides, and on the Indigenous working group for the Every Woman Treaty campaign. Cox has produced extensive research outlining strategies for working closely with First Nations survivors of sexual assault. As of 2019, Cox was the acting executive officer of the Noongar Family Safety and Wellbeing Council. She is a former non-executive director of the Kooraminning Aboriginal Corporation based in Narrogin.

Politics

Cox stood for the Greens at the 2017 Western Australian state election in the seat of Jandakot. She was also the party's candidate at the 2018 Fremantle federal by-election. In October 2020, Cox won

as the lead candidate on the Greens'

ticket in Western Australia at the 2022 federal election, following the decision of incumbent senator

not to re-contest. She defeated former state MP Lynn MacLaren and incumbent state director Sophie Greer in the preselection ballot. Siewert chose to resign from the Senate prior to the end of her term, creating a casual vacancy to be filled by Cox in September 2021. She would be the first

woman to represent Western Australia in the Senate and the fifth in

federal Parliament The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the governor-gen ...

. Cox was sworn in to the Senate on 18 October 2021. Senator Cox took her maiden speech as an opportunity to shine a light on First Nations issues, including cultural heritage, rates of homelessness, deaths in custody, Treaty and family violence. In her first speech to the Senate, Cox also called for a national inquiry into missing and murdered First Nations women. In November 2021, Cox secured the support of the Senate to establish a parliamentary inquiry which will examine the policing processes used in First Nations murder and missing persons investigations. Cox is the Australian Greens Spokesperson on Mining and Resources, Trade, Tourism, Science, Research and Innovation.

Political positions

In 2020, Cox stated that her priorities if elected to the Senate would be to work for treaties with Indigenous Australians and to establish a national

family violence Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner v ...

strategy. Cox has also advocated for the use of

Indigenous Australian customary law Indigenous Australian customary law refers to the legal systems and practices uniquely belonging to Indigenous Australians of Australia, that is, Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Background and description Ind ...

as a complement to the

Australian legal system The legal system of Australia has multiple forms. It includes a written constitution, unwritten constitutional conventions, statutes, regulations, and the judicially determined common law system. Its legal institutions and traditions are sub ...

, as a way of improving criminal justice outcomes for Indigenous people. Following the

2021 Australian Parliament House sexual misconduct allegations In February and March 2021, a number of allegations involving rape and other sexual misconduct against women involving the Australian Parliament and federal politicians were raised, causing controversy especially for the federal Liberal-Nationa ...

, she stated that the women's rights movement in Australia suffered from a lack of diversity. Cox pursued the Morrison Government on its approval the Scarborough gas project - a project that will is expected to cause significant environmental harm, and generate 1.6 billion tonnes of emissions. In November 2021, Cox spoke out against the Morrison Government providing grants to frack the Beetaloo Basin. In 2022, Cox joined her Australian Greens colleagues in calling for a moratorium on all new coal and gas projects. Cox moved amendments on behalf of the Australian Greens to prohibit Export Finance Australia from investing in fossil fuel projects

Personal life

Cox has two daughters Ailish and Ciara with her ex-husband. Cox experiences some hearing difficulties and uses a cochlear implant. In 2022, she was named World Hearing Day Ambassador by the Ear Science Institute Australia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cox, Dorinda 1970s births People from Kojonup, Western Australia Australian Greens members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian Senate Members of the Australian Senate for Western Australia Women members of the Australian Senate Australian police officers Indigenous Australian politicians Noongar people Australian women's rights activists Public servants of Western Australia Living people