Pat Dodson
Patrick Dodson | |
|---|---|
Dodson in New York City in 2022 | |
| Senator for Western Australia | |
| In office 2 May 2016 – 26 January 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Joe Bullock |
| Succeeded by | Varun Ghosh |
| Special Envoy for Reconciliation and Implementation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart | |
| In office 1 June 2022 – 26 January 2024 | |
| Preceded by | (position established) |
| Succeeded by | (position terminated) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Patrick Lionel Djargun Dodson 29 January 1948 Broome, Western Australia, Australia |
| Political party | Labor |
| Children | 1 |
| Relatives | Mick Dodson (brother) |
| Alma mater | Corpus Christi College, Melbourne |
Patrick Lionel Djargun Dodson (born 29 January 1948) is an Australian Indigenous rights activist and former politician. He is often referred to as the "father of reconciliation" owing to his commitment to reconciliation in Australia. He was a Senator for Western Australia from 2016 to 2024, representing the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He is the brother of Mick Dodson.
Dodson is a Aboriginal elder from Broome, Western Australia, who in his younger days was for a short while the first Aboriginal Australian Catholic priest. Dodson was chairman of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation and a Commissioner into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. In 2008 he was awarded the Sydney Peace Prize, and in 2009 the John Curtin Medal. The Parliament of Western Australia appointed Dodson to the Australian Senate on 2 May 2016, following the retirement of Joe Bullock. On 28 November 2023, Dodson announced his retirement from the Senate, which took effect on 26 January 2024, owing to the need for cancer treatment.