26 Facts About Dorinda Cox

Dorinda Rose Cox was born on 25 May 1976 and is an Australian politician who has been a Senator for Western Australia since 2021, representing the Greens.

Dorinda Cox was originally appointed to fill the casual vacancy caused by the resignation of Senator Rachel Siewert in 2021, and was then elected as the Greens' lead Senate candidate in Western Australia at the 2022 federal election.

Dorinda Cox is a member of the Yamatji and Noongar peoples.

Dorinda Cox's family has experienced "five generations of child removal in her matriarchal line".

Dorinda Cox's grandfather was taken from his family and country in the Gascoyne as an infant to be raised at the New Norcia mission, where his name was changed.

Dorinda Cox grew up in Perth, leaving school in 1994 at the age of 17 to become a cadet with the Western Australia Police.

Dorinda Cox left the force at the age of 27 to work for Centrelink.

In 2008, Dorinda Cox was appointed to the Rudd Government's National Council to Reduce Violence Against Women.

Dorinda Cox has served on the board of anti-violence organisation Our Watch, 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.

Dorinda Cox is a former non-executive director of the Kooraminning Aboriginal Corporation based in Narrogin.

Dorinda Cox stood for the Greens at the 2017 Western Australian state election in the seat of Jandakot.

Dorinda Cox was the party's candidate at the 2018 Fremantle federal by-election.

In October 2020, Dorinda Cox won preselection as the lead candidate on the Greens' Senate ticket in Western Australia at the 2022 federal election, following the decision of incumbent senator Rachel Siewert not to re-contest.

Dorinda Cox would be the first Indigenous woman to represent Western Australia in the Senate and the fifth in federal Parliament.

Dorinda 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 November 2021, Dorinda 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.

Dorinda Cox has served as the Greens' spokesperson across a number of portfolios.

Dorinda Cox replaced Lidia Thorpe as the party's spokesperson on First Nations in February 2023, following Thorpe's resignation from the Greens.

In October 2024, it was reported that Dorinda Cox's office had a high staff turnover, with 20 staffers resigning over a three-year period, and that several staff members had lodged formal complaints with the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service and the office of Greens leader Adam Bandt.

The complaints including accusations that Dorinda Cox had engaged in bullying and created a hostile work environment.

In 2020, Dorinda 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 strategy.

Dorinda Cox has advocated for the use of Indigenous Australian customary law as a complement to the Australian legal system, as a way of improving criminal justice outcomes for Indigenous people.

Dorinda Cox pursued the Morrison Government on its approval the Scarborough gas project, a project that is expected to cause significant environmental harm, and generate 1.6 billion tonnes of emissions.

In November 2021, Dorinda Cox spoke out against the Morrison Government providing grants to frack the Beetaloo Basin.

In 2022, Dorinda Cox joined her Australian Greens colleagues in calling for a moratorium on all new coal and gas projects.

Dorinda Cox moved amendments on behalf of the Australian Greens to prohibit Export Finance Australia from investing in fossil fuel projects.