Former police officer and Indigenous social justice campaigner Dorinda Cox will be confirmed to fill a West Australian Senate vacancy for the Greens.
The Yamatji-Noongar woman will be chosen to replace retired Greens senator Rachel Siewert in a joint sitting of the WA parliament on Tuesday.
Ms Cox joined WA police as a 17-year-old cadet and worked as an Aboriginal police liaison officer in Perth and Kalgoorlie, specialising in family violence and sexual assault.
"When I told my grandmother that I was joining the police, the first thing she said to me was, 'Does that mean you are going to take children from their parents?'," she said.
"My grandmother had seven of her children taken away by the police. I said 'no, I wouldn't', but little did I know that police would still take children away until this day.
"There is a systemic failure of the system that Aboriginal women are more likely to have their children removed."
Ms Cox, who will be WA's first female Aboriginal senator, will take over from Ms Siewert who spent 16 years in federal parliament.
The incoming WA senator chaired the National Sexual Assault Services Board after participating in the first national action plan for violence against women and children.
She was an Australian representative on several delegations on gender equality at the United Nations and other global forums.
Ms Cox said she was disturbed at seeing a revolving door of people during her policing career with systems perpetuating hopelessness for communities.
Federal Greens leader Adam Bandt said Ms Cox was an advocate for women, First Nations people and domestic violence survivors.
"The future of our country should not be just dictated by yet more old, white men," he said.
"It's vital that our political representatives reflect the incredible makeup of our country."
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