ACT Labor senator Katy Gallagher is expected to face a High Court ruling on her eligibility to sit in parliament on Wednesday, six months after it emerged she was a dual citizen at the 2016 election.
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A decision against the former ACT chief minister may not lead to a long stint outside parliament, as Labor readies to preselect its candidates for both the Senate and lower house later this year.
The court's decision could see her leave the Senate and may cast doubt on the parliamentary futures of other Labor MPs facing questions over their eligibility.
Labor has waited to learn Senator Gallagher's future since a court hearing in March and the High Court has been forming its decision while the possible new boundaries of a third ACT electorate were released.
Professionals Australia's ACT director David Smith would likely take Senator Gallagher's seat if the High Court finds her ineligible.
There is speculation she could run for one of the lower house seats if ejected from the Senate, but she may have to wait only until August for Labor preselections for lower and upper house candidates, a month after new seat boundaries are finalised.
The court reserved its decision in March after the Coalition government and the barrister representing Senator Gallagher, former solicitor-general Justin Gleeson, sparred over the limits of section 44 of the Constitution that bars dual citizens from sitting in parliament.
Solicitor-General Stephen Donaghue told the High Court the Labor senator ignored the possibility her bid to renounce UK citizenship could have remained incomplete before the nomination deadline.
Mr Gleeson rejected the argument, referring to a submission the court received saying that overseas delays to applications renouncing citizenship could take up to years and - under the government's argument - require potential election candidates to act long before a poll was called without guarantee they could renounce, and then stand.
The High Court decision could cast doubt over the futures of Labor MPs Susan Lamb, Justine Keay and Josh Wilson in parliament after they faced dual citizenship questions, while South Australian MP Rebekha Sharkie was advised last year to refer herself to the High Court.
Documents provided to the Senate in December showed Senator Gallagher was "at the date of her nomination for the 2016 election, a British citizen by descent" and that her moves to renounce in April 2016 took until August 16 to be completed by UK officials.
Senator Gallagher told the Senate in December she would stand aside from her responsibilities on Labor's frontbench until her case was resolved by the High Court, sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns.
Legal advice from British and Australian barristers says she took every reasonable step to renounce citizenship by descent from her English-born father Charles Gallagher before nominating, and that she meets the standard set by the High Court in recent section 44 cases.
