Patrick Lionel Djargun Dodson (born 29 January 1948) is an Australian politician representing

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to t ...

in the

Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. There are a t ...

. He is a Yawuru

elder An elder is someone with a degree of seniority or authority. Elder or elders may refer to: Positions Administrative * Elder (administrative title), a position of authority Cultural * North American Indigenous elder, a person who has and ...

from

Broome, Western Australia Broome, also known as Rubibi by the Yawuru people, is a coastal pearling and tourist town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, north of Perth. In the the population was recorded as 14,660. It is the largest town in the Kimberley re ...

. He has been chairman of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation, a Commissioner into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, and a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

priest. He was the winner of the 2008 Sydney Peace Prize and the 2009

John Curtin John Curtin (8 January 1885 – 5 July 1945) was an Australian politician who served as the 14th prime minister of Australia from 1941 until his death in 1945. He led the country for the majority of World War II, including all but the last few ...

Medallist. His brother is

Mick Dodson Michael James Dodson (born 10 April 1950) is an Aboriginal Australian barrister, academic, and member of the Yawuru people in the Broome area of the southern Kimberley region of Western Australia. His brother is Pat Dodson, also a noted ...

, also a national

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

leader. On 2 March 2016, Dodson was announced as the replacement for Joe Bullock as a

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

for

, following Bullock's resignation. The

Parliament of Western Australia The Parliament of Western Australia is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Western Australia, forming the legislative branch of the Government of Western Australia. The parliament consists of a lower house, the Legislati ...

appointed Dodson to the

on 2 May 2016.

Early life and priesthood

Dodson was born on 29 January 1948 in Broome. His father, John "Snowy" Dodson, was born in

Launceston, Tasmania Launceston () or () is a city in the north of Tasmania, Australia, at the confluence of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River (kanamaluka). As of 2021, Launceston has a population of 87,645. Material was copie ...

and his mother, Patricia, was an

. The family moved to

Katherine Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria. In the early Christ ...

in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

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 Monivae College is an independent Roman Catholic co-educational high day and boarding school of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSC) tradition located in , Victoria, Australia. It is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ballarat. Set o ...

Hamilton, Victoria Hamilton is a large town in south-western Victoria, Australia, at the intersection of the Glenelg Highway and the Henty Highway. The Hamilton Highway connects it to Geelong. Hamilton is in the federal Division of Wannon, and is in the South ...

, where Dodson became head prefect and captain of football. After completing his schooling, Patrick enrolled to study for the priesthood at Corpus Christi College, Melbourne, and was ordained in the order of the

Missionaries of the Sacred Heart The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (MSC; la, Missionarii Sacratissimi Cordis; french: Missionnaires du Sacré-Coeur) are a missionary congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1854 by Servant of God Jules Chevalier (182 ...

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 conflict over the balance and blend of Catholicism and Aboriginal spiritual belief.

Public service

Dodson lives in Broome where he is also involved in matters relating to the preservation and development of Indigenous rights and culture. Some of the prominent roles and positions he has held include: *Director of the Central Land Council and the Kimberley Land Council *Commissioner into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, 1989 *Chairman of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation (1991–1997) (This body was replaced by

Reconciliation Australia Reconciliation Australia is a non-government, not-for-profit foundation established in January 2001 to promote a continuing national focus for reconciliation between Indigenous (i.e. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people) and non-Indig ...

). He retired stating "I fear for the spirit of this country". *Adjunct Professor at the

University of Notre Dame Australia The University of Notre Dame Australia (UNDA) is a national Roman Catholic private university with campuses in and in Western Australia and Sydney in New South Wales. The university also has eight clinical schools as part of its school of med ...

. *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

appointed Dodson to fill a casual vacancy in the

on 2 May 2016, following the resignation of

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 The Minister for Indigenous Australians in the Government of Australia is a position which holds responsibility for affairs affecting Indigenous Australians. Previous ministers have held various other titles since the position was created in 196 ...

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 Juukan Gorge is a gorge in the Hamersley Range in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, about from Mt Tom Price. It was named by the daughter of Puutu Kunti Kurrama man Juukan, also known as Tommy Ashburton, who was born at Jukarinya (Mt B ...

in the Pilbara region of Western Australia", which delivered its interim report in December 2020.PDF
/ref> 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 Anthony Norman Albanese ( or ; born 2 March 1963) is an Australian politician serving as the 31st and current prime minister of Australia since 2022. He has been leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) since 2019 and the member of parlia ...

Honours

Dodson holds an Honorary

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor ...

degree from the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb ...

and an Honorary Doctor of Letters degree from the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensiv ...

. In 2012 he gave the inaugural Gandhi Oration at the

References

Other sources

*Kevin Keeffe, (2003) ''Paddy's Road: Life Stories of Patrick Dodson" Aboriginal Studies Press, Canberra

External links

''Patrick Dodson - A Life Story'' Local ABC NSW Tuesday, 2 September 2003
ccessed 10 February 2006br>Bio at Kimberley Development Commission website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dodson, Pat 1948 births Living people Members of the Australian Senate Members of the Australian Senate for Western Australia Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Labor Right politicians People from Broome, Western Australia Indigenous Australians from Western Australia Australian indigenous rights activists Indigenous Australian politicians 21st-century Australian politicians Australian Roman Catholic priests Missionaries of the Sacred Heart Indigenous Australian clergy Australian Aboriginal elders