sentences:  She sat on numerous committees from 1972 through the 1970s and '80s, all of them involved in some way in promoting or managing ethnic affairs, women's issues, or adult education.She joined the Labor Party in 1972, and in 1981 was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Council, becoming the first woman not from an English-speaking background in the New South Wales Parliament.As a Member of the Council, Arena sat on several parliamentary committees, most prominently the Standing Committee on Social Issues.