The first South Sudanese Australian elected to an Australian parliament was on Monday sworn in to Western Australia’s Legislative Council.

Ayor Makur Chuot arrived in Australia as a refugee in 2005 after spending 10 years in an UNHCR refugee camp in Kakuma, Kenya.

She hopes her election to parliament will inspire other migrant women to consider a career in politics.

“When I came to Perth I couldn’t speak much English. A girl that arrived with her sister and a carry-on bag, a plastic bag. We came here with nothing, not even one dollar,” she told SBS News.