Pat Dodson

Patrick Lionel Djargun Dodson (born 29 January 1948) is an Australian indigenous rights activist and former politician. He was a Senator for Western Australia from 2016 to 2024, representing the Australian Labor Party (ALP).

Dodson is a Yawuru elder from Broome, Western Australia. He has been chairman of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation and a Commissioner into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. In addition to a brief stint as a Roman Catholic priest, he was the winner of the 2008 Sydney Peace Prize and the 2009 John Curtin Medal. He is the brother of Mick Dodson.

On 2 March 2016, Dodson was announced as the replacement for Joe Bullock as a Labor senator for Western Australia, following Bullock's resignation. The Parliament of Western Australia appointed Dodson to the Senate on 2 May 2016. On 28 November 2023, Dodson announced his retirement from the Senate, which took effect on 26 January 2024. He was undergoing treatment for cancer at the time of his resignation.

Early life
Dodson was born on 29 January 1948 in Broome. His father, John "Snowy" Dodson, was born in Launceston, Tasmania and his mother, Patricia, was an Indigenous Australian. The family moved to Katherine in the Northern Territory when Pat was two, to escape Western Australian laws banning race-mix families.

The Dodson children were orphaned at the deaths of both parents only three months apart in 1960. He and his brother Mick were made wards of the state, but their aunt and uncle decided they should accept a scholarship to study at Monivae College in Hamilton, Victoria, where Dodson became head prefect and captain of football.

Catholic priesthood
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. He left the priesthood in the early 1980s due to conflicts between Catholicism and his Aboriginal spiritual beliefs.

Public service
Dodson lives in Broome. He has been involved in matters relating to Indigenous rights and culture. Roles he has held include:
 * Director of the Central Land Council in 1985 and the Kimberley Land Council in 1991
 * Commissioner into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, 1989
 * Chairman of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation (1991–1997) (This body was replaced by Reconciliation Australia). He retired stating "I fear for the spirit of this country".
 * Adjunct Professor at the University of Notre Dame Australia.
 * Chairperson, Kimberley Development Commission (his term expired in November 2010)
 * Chairman of the Lingiari Foundation, an Indigenous non-government advocacy and research Foundation.
 * Inaugural Director of the Indigenous Policy, Dialogue and Research Unit (IPDRU) at the University of New South Wales
 * Chairman of the Yawuru Native Title Holders Body Corporate (2010–2013) and Nyamba Buru Yawuru Ltd (to 2015)

Politics
The Parliament of Western Australia appointed Dodson to fill a casual vacancy in the Australian Senate on 2 May 2016, following the resignation of Labor senator Joe Bullock. 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. 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.

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 has been 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.

As the shadow assistant minister for reconciliation and constitutional recognition, Dodson supported the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full.

Dodson served on the "Inquiry into the destruction of 46,000 year old caves at the Juukan Gorge in the Pilbara region of Western Australia", which delivered its interim report in December 2020.

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.

Resignation
On 28 November 2023 Dodson announced his intention to resign as a Senator effective 26 January 2024, saying he is unable to serve further due to being treated for cancer earlier in the year.

Personal life
Dodson's daughter Grace, whose mother is Annunciata Dartinga, is an artist based in Peppimenarti, Northern Territory.

In early 2023, Dodson was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, followed by an infection of the oesophagus and shingles. He was treated with chemotherapy and returned from medical leave in order to campaign for the "Yes" vote at the 2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum.

Honours
Dodson holds an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Melbourne and an Honorary Doctor of Letters degree from the University of New South Wales.

In 2012 he gave the inaugural Gandhi Oration at the University of New South Wales.

Other sources

 * Kevin Keeffe, (2003) ''Paddy's Road: Life Stories of Patrick Dodson" Aboriginal Studies Press, Canberra ISBN 0-85575-448-6