Background
She was born in Paddington to Polish-Jewish emigrants Stanley Kaplun and Adel, née Gutman.
She was born in Paddington to Polish-Jewish emigrants Stanley Kaplun and Adel, née Gutman.
She attended local primary schools and then Parramatta and Sydney Girls" high schools.
She was the first woman employed as a solicitor at Minter Simpson, before moving to F. West. Jenkins and Company which she eventually bought after Jenkins"s death. She joined the Parents and Citizens (P&C) Association at Coogee and by 1968 rose to the state council. She ran as a candidate for the Defence of Government Schools group in the 1969 federal election, challenging the Speaker of the House, Sir William Aston, for his seat of Phillip.
She received 2.3% of the vote.
In 1973 she was elected president of the Federation of P&C Associations, and significantly increased the influence and political involvement of the organisation. Awarded an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 1978, she was a parent representative on the Education Commission and vice-president of the Australian Council of School Organisations.
She retired in 1980. Following her retirement from the P&C presidency, Cohen served part-time on the Social Security Appeals Tribunal and the Consumer, Trading and Tenancy Tribunal, and was chairwoman of the New South Wales Privacy Committee from 1983 to 1993.
Awarded the Department of Administration and Management in 1987, she was also involved in the National Council of Jewish Women and the Jewish Board of Deputies. She died in 2010.