Patrick Lionel Djargun Dodson was born on 29 January 1948 in Broome,one of seven children.[1][2][3] He is a Yawuru man.[4] His father,John "Snowy" Dodson,was born in Launceston,Tasmania,and his mother,Patricia,was an Aboriginal Australian woman.[5] His grandfather,Paddy Djiagween,was a leader of the Yawura people. When introduced to Queen Elizabeth II when she visited Broome in 1963,he simply asked:"Why can't we have the same rights as the white man?".[6] Dodson's family moved to Katherine,Northern Territory,when Pat was two,to escape Western Australian laws banning mixed-race families. His father had previously been imprisoned for 18 months for "cohabiting with a native woman".[7]
After leaving school,Dodson enrolled studied the priesthood at Corpus Christi College,Melbourne,and was ordained in the order of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in May 1975. He was the first Aboriginal person to become a Catholic priest in Australia.[1] He left the priesthood in 1981[6][9] due to conflicts between Catholicism and his Aboriginal spiritual beliefs.[2][10] Dodson insisted that many ancient Aboriginal rites celebrated the same spiritual force as Christians worshipped.[6]
Dodson has been involved in matters relating to Indigenous rights and culture,including working as a consultant advising government,industry,and community groups,his whole life.[11][12]
In 2020 Dodson served on the parliamentary inquiry into the destruction of the caves at the Juukan Gorge in the Pilbara,which delivered its interim report,titled "Never Again" in December 2020[27] and the full report in October 2021.[28]
Politics
On 2 March 2016,Dodson was announced as the replacement for Joe Bullock as a Labor senator for Western Australia,following Bullock's resignation.[29] The Parliament of Western Australia appointed Dodson to fill the casual vacancy in the Australian Senate on 2 May 2016.[30] He was sworn in as a senator on the same day,and sat as a Labor senator for Western Australia. He retained his seat at the 2016 federal election.[31] He has served on a number of Senate committees,notably as joint chair of the Joint Select Committee into Constitutional Recognition relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.[32]
Dodson was added to the shadow ministry in May 2016,as a shadow assistant minister. He was initially appointed shadow parliamentary secretary to the Leader of the Opposition,and in July 2016 was shadow assistant minister for Indigenous affairs and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. Opposition leader Bill Shorten promised to appoint Dodson as Minister for Indigenous Affairs if the ALP won the 2019 federal election. This did not eventuate,and Dodson,while re-elected to the Senate,did not stand for re-election to the Labor frontbench.[33] As the shadow assistant minister for reconciliation and constitutional recognition,Dodson supported the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full.[34] He also served on several senate committees.[3]
Following Labor's victory at the 2022 federal election,Dodson was appointed Special Envoy for Reconciliation and Implementation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.[35] Owing to illness he was not able to participate fully in the campaign for the Yes vote in the 2023 Voice referendum,and was very disappointed in the result.[12] On 28 November 2023 he announced his intention to resign as a Senator effective 26 January 2024,saying he was unable to serve further due to being treated for cancer earlier in the year.[36][37][38]
Dodson is often referred to as the "father of reconciliation" owing to his role at CAR and his commitment to reconciliation in Australia[39][5][36][12] by constructive dialogue and mutual respect.[1]
In 1997 Dodson was recognised as a National Living Treasure,along with his brother Mick –the only siblings on the list.[40]
In January 2012 Dodson gave the inaugural Gandhi Oration at the University of New South Wales.[39][46] In the same year,UNSW awarded him an honorary professorship at the end of his term at the Indigenous Policy and Dialogue Research Unit,and later that year an honorary Doctor of Letters degree.[20][47][48][3]
Personal life
Dodson has a daughter,Grace,whose mother is artist Annunciata Dartinga. Grace works full-time as a nurse,and is an artist in her spare time. Both women are based in Peppimenarti,Northern Territory.[49]
1 2 3 4 5 6 "KDC Board". kimberley.wa.gov.au. Kimberley Development Commission (KDC). 2007. Archived from the original on 20 February 2011. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
↑ "Partnerships". Edmund Rice Centre. 1 August 2018. Retrieved 30 May 2025.
1 2 "Our highest honour". UNSW. 20 August 2012. Retrieved 30 May 2025. He was the founding Director of UNSW's Indigenous Policy and Dialogue Research Unit and accepted an honorary professorship when his appointment ended earlier this year.
Dodson, Pat (7 September 2009). "We Can Change How The Other Half Lives". New Matilda. – an edited version of a speech given by Dodson at the launch of the Indigenous Policy Dialogue and Research Unit at UNSW 20 August 2009.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
