Michael James Dodson (born 10 April 1950) is an
Aboriginal Australian
Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...
barrister, academic, and member of the
Yawuru
The Yawuru, also spelt Jawuru, are an Indigenous Australian people of the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
Language
A Japanese linguist, Hosokawa Kōmei (細川弘明), compiled the first basic dictionary of the Yawuru language in 1988, a ...
people in the
Broome area of the southern
Kimberley region of
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 th ...
.
His brother is
Pat Dodson
Patrick Lionel Djargun Dodson (born 29 January 1948) is an Australian politician representing Western Australia in the Australian Senate. He is a Yawuru elder from Broome, Western Australia. He has been chairman of the Council for Aboriginal ...
, also a noted Aboriginal leader and a senator to Federal Parliament, representing Western Australia.
Biography
Following his parents' death, he boarded 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 ...
,
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 ...
. He graduated with degrees in Jurisprudence and Law from
Monash University
Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university h ...
in 1974, as the first Indigenous person to graduate from law in Australia. Following graduation, he worked as a criminal solicitor for the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Aid Service, and later as a criminal defence barrister at the Victorian Bar, where he still practises as a barrister specialising in native title. He has worked extensively as a legal adviser in native title and human rights, and as an academic in Indigenous law. He is currently Professor of Law at the
Australian National University
The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...
, as the director of its National Centre for Indigenous Studies, and has lectured as a visiting academic at the
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory.
T ...
and
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
respectively. Dodson's efforts for the rights of indigenous people around the world in 2005 made him a member of
United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII or PFII) is the UN's central coordinating body for matters relating to the concerns and rights of the world's indigenous peoples. There are more than 370 million indigenous peop ...
.
He has been a prominent
advocate of
land rights
Land law is the form of law that deals with the rights to use, alienate, or exclude others from land. In many jurisdictions, these kinds of property are referred to as real estate or real property, as distinct from personal property. Land use a ...
and other issues affecting
Indigenous people
Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
s in Australia and globally and has extensive involvement in the
United Nations Forum on Indigenous Issues. He is the Chief Investigator for the ''Serving Our Country: a history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the defence of Australia'' project, an
Australian Research Council-funded research project based at The Australian National University.
On 25 January 2009, he was named
Australian of the Year. He now lives and works in
Canberra
Canberra ( )
is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...
. Apart from human rights Dodson has been active in politics of Australian government, justice and
crime prevention.
Honours
*
Australian of the Year, 2009
* Chairperson of the
*Distinguished Alumni Award,
Monash University
Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university h ...
, 1998
*Fellow,
Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia
The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (ASSA) is an independent, non-governmental organisation devoted to the advancement of knowledge and research in the social sciences. It has its origins in the Social Science Research Council of Austr ...
, 2009
*Honorary Member of the University of Kingwood Nationals, 2010
*Member of the
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...
(AM), 2003
*Member of the
Order of Indonesia
Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to:
* Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood
* Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of ...
(PM), awarded on
New Year's Day
New Year's Day is a festival observed in most of the world on 1 January, the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar. 1 January is also New Year's Day on the Julian calendar, but this is not the same day as the Gregorian one. Wh ...
2003
Honorary doctorates
*Honorary Doctor of Letters,
University of Technology Sydney
The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Although its origins are said to trace back to the 1830s, the university was founded in its current form in 1988. As of 2021 ...
, 1998
*Honorary Doctor of Laws,
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 ...
, 1999
*Honorary Doctorate,
University of Canberra
The University of Canberra (UC) is a public research university with its main campus located in Bruce, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The campus is within walking distance of Westfield Belconnen, and from Canberra's Civic Centre. U ...
, 2010
Controversy
It is alleged that Mick Dodson verbally abused a woman at an NTFL game. The incident was investigated by the NT government but the outcome was not disclosed.
References
External links
ANU College of Law profileSelected publications and presentations Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dodson, Mick
1950 births
Living people
Australian barristers
Australian human rights activists
Lawyers from Melbourne
Australian legal scholars
Australian lobbyists
Australian indigenous rights activists
Australian of the Year Award winners
Indigenous Australians from Western Australia
Monash Law School alumni
Members of the Order of Australia
People from Broome, Western Australia
People from the Australian Capital Territory
People from the Northern Territory
Fellows of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia
Australian National University faculty
Indigenous Australian academics
Australian republicans