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Michael Dodson Michael Dodson i(A80780 works by) (a.k.a. Mick Dodson; Michael James Dodson)
Born: Established: 1950 Katherine, Batchelor - Katherine area, Top End, Northern Territory, ;
Gender: Male
Heritage: Aboriginal Yawuru ; Aboriginal ; Irish
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BiographyHistory

Lawyer, academic and advocate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, Michael Dodson worked with the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service before becoming a barrister in 1981. He was senior legal adviser for the Northern Land Council in 1984 and director in 1990. He worked with the United Nations as an advocate for the indigenous peoples of the world and was a founding director of the Australian Indigenous Leadership Centre, and a member and chairman of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.

From 1998 to 1990 Dodson was Counsel assisting the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and in 1993 he was appointed Australia's first Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social justice commissioner with the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, a position he held until January 1998.

In 2003 Dodson was appointed inaugural Professor in Indigenous Studies at the Australian National University and convenor of its Institute for Indigenous Australia and in 2010 Dodson was appointed co-Chair of Australian Studies at Harvard University. Michael Dodson is the brother of Patrick Dodson and nephew of Patrick Djiagween (qq.v.). (Source: Monash University Website; HREOC Website)

In November 2010, Dodson was the recipient of an honorary doctorate from the University of Canberra in recognition of his contribution to human rights, social justice and Indigenous affairs in Australia and around the world.

In 2019, Dodson was appointed as the Northern Territory's first Treaty Commissioner.

Most Referenced Works

Personal Awards

2009 winner Australian of the Year Awards Australian of the Year
2008 winner Sydney Peace Prize For courageous advocacy of the human rights of Indigenous people, for distinguished leadership of the reconciliation movement and for a lifetime of commitment to peace with justice, through dialogue and many other expressions of non-violence.
2003 Order of Australia Member of the Order of Australia (AM)
Last amended 26 Feb 2020 14:15:53
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