Lowitja O'Donoghue (August 1932 – 4 February 2024), also known as Lois O'Donoghue and Lois Smart, was an Australian public administrator and Indigenous rights advocate. She was the inaugural chairperson of the

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) (1990–2005) was the Australian Government body through which Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders were formally involved in the processes of government affecting thei ...

(ATSIC) from 1990 to 1996. She is known for her work in improving the health and welfare of

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

, and also for the part she played in the drafting of the ''

Native Title Act 1993 The ''Native Title Act 1993'' (Cth) is an act of the Australian Parliament, the purpose of which is "to provide a national system for the recognition and protection of native title and for its co-existence with the national land management sys ...

'', which established

native title in Australia Native title is the set of rights, recognised by Australian law, held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups or individuals to land that derive from their maintenance of their traditional laws and customs. These Aboriginal title righ ...

. O'Donoghue was the inaugural patron and namesake of the Lowitja Institute, a research institute for

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

health and wellbeing established in 2010, which in 2022 established the Lowitja O'Donoghue Foundation. The Lowitja O'Donoghue Oration is held annually by the Don Dunstan Foundation, in her honour.

Early life and education

Lowitja O'Donoghue, whose birth was unregistered, was born in August 1932, and later assigned the birthdate of 1 August 1932 by missionaries. She was born on a

cattle station In Australia and New Zealand, a cattle station is a large farm ( station is equivalent to the American ranch), the main activity of which is the rearing of cattle. The owner of a cattle station is called a '' grazier''. The largest cattle stati ...

later identified in her official biography as De Rose Hill in the far north of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

(now in the APY Lands, not far from Iwantja). She was the fifth of six children of Tom O'Donoghue, a stockman and

pastoral lease A pastoral lease, sometimes called a pastoral run, is an arrangement used in both Australia and New Zealand where government-owned Crown land is leased out to Pastoral farming, graziers for the purpose of livestock grazing on rangelands. Austral ...

holder of Irish descent, and Lily, an Aboriginal woman whose tribal name was Yunamba. Lily was a member of the

Yankunytjatjara The Yankunytjatjara people, also written Yankuntjatjarra, Jangkundjara, and other variants, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the state of South Australia. Language Yankunytjatjara is a Western Desert language belonging to the Wati lan ...

Aboriginal clan of northwest South Australia. Lowitja was baptised by a pastor from the

United Aborigines Mission The United Aborigines Mission (UAM) (also known as UAM Ministries, United Aborigines' Mission (Australia), and United Aborigines' Mission of Australia) was one of the largest missions in Australia, having dozens of missionary, missionaries and st ...

. Tom O'Donoghue had joined his older brother Mick in central Australia in 1920, and broke horses at Granite Downs until 1923 when he was granted a pastoral lease at De Rose Hill. After the birth of Eileen in 1924, Tom and Lily had another five children up to 1935. Mick O'Donoghue had two boysParker and Stevewith an Aboriginal woman called Mungi. Mick handed the boys over to missionaries of the United Aborigines Mission (UAM) at

Oodnadatta Oodnadatta is a small, remote outback town and locality in the Australian state of South Australia, located north-north-west of the state capital of Adelaide city centre, Adelaide by road or direct, at an altitude of . The unsealed Oodnadatta ...

before they turned four years of age. In March 1927, Tom O'Donoghue handed his first two childrenthree-year-old Eileen and the infant Geoffreyto the UAM at Oodnadatta, and the following month the mission moved south to

Quorn Quorn is a brand of meat substitute products. Quorn originated in the UK and is sold primarily in Europe, but is available in 11 countries. The brand is owned by parent company Monde Nissin. Quorn is sold as both a cooking ingredient and as ...

in the

Flinders Ranges The Flinders Ranges are the largest mountain ranges in South Australia, which starts about north of Adelaide. The ranges stretch for over from Port Pirie to Lake Callabonna. The Adnyamathanha people are the Aboriginal group who have inhab ...

, where the mission, named the Colebrook Home, was established in a cottage above the town. In September 1934, aged two years, Lowitja was removed from her mother, and handed over to the missionaries at the Colebrook Home (on behalf of South Australia's

Aboriginal Protection Board Aboriginal Protection Board, also known as Aborigines Protection Board, Board for the Protection of Aborigines, Aborigines Welfare Board (and in later sources, incorrectly as Aboriginal Welfare Board), and similar names, refers to a number of hi ...

), along with her four-year-old sister Amy, and her six-year-old sister Violet. Upon arrival at the home, Lowitja met her other siblings, now ten-year-old Eileen and eight-year-old Geoffrey. The missionaries called her Lois and gave her a date of birth of 1 August 1932. They also assigned a place of birth. She had no memory of any time spent with her parents as an infant. She later (sometime after 1994) changed her name back to Lowitja. According to O'Donoghue, she was very happy living at Colebrook and said she received a sound education both there and at the Quorn Primary School. The Quorn community at large actively encouraged children from the home to participate in local events, and assisted in the maintenance of the home. Only a few people objected to the integration. In 1944 Colebrook Home moved to

Eden Hills, South Australia Eden Hills is a south eastern suburb located in the foothills of Adelaide, South Australia. It is part of the local government area of the City of Mitcham. History Whilst the derivation of the name is not conclusive, the Department of Lands Gr ...

, due to chronic water shortages, enabling her to attend

Unley High School Unley High School is a public coeducational secondary school, located in the Adelaide suburb of Netherby in South Australia. It is administered by the Department of Education, with an enrolment of 1,562 students and a teaching staff of 114, as ...

, a local public school, and obtain her Intermediate Certificate. She was taught up until the Leaving Certificate standard but did not sit for the examination. After the publication of the '' Bringing Them Home'' report in 1997, she said she preferred the word "removed" to the word "stolen" (as used in

Stolen Generations The Stolen Generations (also known as Stolen Children) were the children of Aboriginal Australians, Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian Gover ...

) for her personal situation. She was the youngest child in her family, and was two years old when she was removed from her mother. After she was removed, she did not see her mother again for 33 years. During that time, her mother did not know where her family had been taken. National Film and Sound Archive > Lowitja O'Donoghue – The Stolen Generation
Retrieved 14 May 2014. At the age of 16 she was sent to work as a domestic servant for a large family at Victor Harbor.

Nursing

After two years of working as a servant in Victor Harbor, O'Donoghue worked as a nursing aide in the seaside town and did some basic training. She then applied to be a student nurse in Adelaide. After a long struggle to win admission to train at the

Royal Adelaide Hospital The Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH), colloquially known by its initials or pronounced as "the Rah", is South Australia's largest hospital, owned by the state government as part of Australia's public health care system. The RAH provides tertiary hea ...

(RAH), including lobbying the

premier of South Australia The premier of South Australia is the head of government in the state of South Australia, Australia. The Government of South Australia follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of South Australia acting as the legislature. The premier i ...

( Thomas Playford) and others in government, in 1954 she became a nurse at the Royal Adelaide Hospital (one source claims she was the first Aboriginal person to become such). In 1994 she said: "I'd resolved that one of the fights was to actually open the door for Aboriginal women to take up the nursing profession, and also for those young men to get into apprenticeships". She remained at RAH for ten years, after graduating in 1958 being promoted first to staff sister and then to

charge nurse Nursing management consists of the performance of the leadership functions of governance and decision-making within organizations employing nurses. It includes processes common to all management like planning, organizing, staffing, directing an ...

.Front page
In 1962 O'Donoghue went to work for the Baptist Overseas Mission working in

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

, northern

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, as a nurse relieving missionaries who were taking leave back in Australia. Due to the nearby

Sino-Indian War The Sino–Indian War, also known as the China–India War or the Indo–China War, was an armed conflict between China and India that took place from October to November 1962. It was a military escalation of the Sino–Indian border dispu ...

she was advised by the Australian government to evacuate to

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

, from where she would depart for her return to Australia. She was "probably the first part-aborigine to be appointed from Australia to an overseas mission".

Public service

After returning in 1962, she worked as an Aboriginal liaison officer with the

South Australian Government The Government of South Australia, also referred to as the South Australian Government or the SA Government, is the executive branch of the state of South Australia. It is modelled on the Westminster system, meaning that the highest ranking mem ...

's Department of Education. She later transferred to the SA Department of Aboriginal Affairs and was employed as a welfare officer based mainly in the north of the state, in particular at Coober Pedy. There, in the late 1960s, she learnt of her true name, Lowitja, and also that her mother was living in poor conditions in Oodnadatta. In 1967 O'Donoghue joined the

Commonwealth Public Service The Australian Public Service (APS) is the federal civil service of the Commonwealth of Australia responsible for the public administration, public policy, and public services of the departments and executive and statutory agencies of the Gov ...

as a junior administrative officer in an Adelaide office of the Office of Aboriginal Affairs. Around 1973-4 she was appointed as regional director of the

Department of Aboriginal Affairs The Department of Aboriginal Affairs was an Australian government department that existed between December 1972 and March 1990. History The department had its origins in the Office of Aboriginal Affairs (OAA), which was established b ...

in South Australia, the first woman to hold a position like this in a federal government department. In this role she was responsible for the local implementation of national Aboriginal welfare policy. After a short while she left the public service and had various management/administrative roles with non-government organisations. She was then appointed by the government as chairperson of the Aboriginal Development Commission.

Other roles and activities

As part of her battle to be accepted for training as a nurse at the Royal Adelaide in 1954, O'Donoghue met white Aboriginal advocate

Charles Duguid use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = Kent Town, Adelaide , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinates = , burial_place = ...

, and joined the Aborigines' Advancement League of South Australia. She campaigned for a Yes vote in the

1967 referendum Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

. From 1970 to 1972, she was a member of the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement. In 1977, after the restructuring of the National Aboriginal Consultative Committee (established by the

Whitlam government The Whitlam government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam of the Australian Labor Party. The government commenced when Labor defeated the McMahon government at the 1972 Australian federal elect ...

in 1973) into the

National Aboriginal Conference The National Aboriginal Conference (NAC) was a national organisation established by the Australian Government to represent Indigenous Australians, that is Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The NAC was originally establi ...

, O'Donoghue was appointed founding chairperson of the new organisation, created by the

Commonwealth Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the prime ...

. In 1990, O'Donoghue was appointed Chairperson of the

(ATSIC), a position she held until 1996. Attending a cabinet meeting in 1991, she used the occasion to put forward ATSIC's position with regard to the government's response to the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. Her leadership in this position was greatly respected and admired. She was replaced as chairperson of ATSIC by Gatjil Djerrkura, who was considered by the

Howard government The Howard government refers to the Government of Australia, federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister John Howard between 11 March 1996 and 3 December 2007. It was made up of members of the Liberal Party of Australia, Li ...

to be more moderate. In 1992 she received an SA Great Award. In December 1992, O'Donoghue became the first Aboriginal Australian to address the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its Seventy-ninth session of th ...

during the launch of the United Nations International Year of Indigenous Peoples (1993). Following the 1992

Mabo decision ''Mabo v Queensland (No 2)'' (commonly known as the ''Mabo case'' or simply ''Mabo''; ) is a landmark decision of the High Court of Australia that recognised the existence of Native Title in Australia.. It was brought by Eddie Mabo and othe ...

by the

High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is the apex court of the Australian legal system. It exercises original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified in the Constitution of Australia and supplementary legislation. The High Court was establi ...

, O'Donoghue was a leading member of the team negotiating with the federal government relating to

. Together with prime minister

Paul Keating Paul John Keating (born 18 January 1944) is an Australian former politician and trade unionist who served as the 24th prime minister of Australia from 1991 to 1996. He held office as the leader of the Labor Party (ALP), having previously ser ...

, she played a major role in drafting the bill which became the ''

'', and Keating shortlisted her for the position of Governor-General of Australia in 1995, which ultimately went to Sir William Deane. On 29 April 1998, she delivered the Australian Library Week Oration at

Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute The Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute, usually referred to as Tandanya, is an art museum located on Grenfell Street in Adelaide, South Australia. It specialises in promoting Indigenous Australian art, including visual art, music a ...

in Adelaide, win which she stressed the importance of high quality library and information services to Indigenous Australians. On 24 January 2000, O'Donoghue was the first Indigenous person to give the annual national address as part of

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet and raising of the Flag of Great Britain, Union Flag of Great Britain by Arthur Phillip at Sydney Cove, a ...

celebrations. In 2000, O'Donoghue chaired the Sydney Olympic Games National Indigenous Advisory Committee. She was a member of the Volunteers Committee for the games, and carried the

Olympic torch The Olympic flame is a Olympic symbols, symbol used in the Olympic movement. It is also a symbol of continuity between ancient and modern games. The Olympic flame is lit at Olympia, Greece, several months before the Olympic Games. This ceremony s ...

through

Uluru Uluru (; ), also known as Ayers Rock ( ) and officially gazetted as UluruAyers Rock, is a large sandstone monolith. It outcrop, crops out near the centre of Australia in the southern part of the Northern Territory, south-west of Alice Spri ...

. In 2008, prime minister

Kevin Rudd Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian diplomat and former politician who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and June to September 2013. He held office as the Leaders of the Australian Labo ...

asked her for advice during his preparation for the Apology to the Stolen Generations. She was the patron of a number of health, welfare, and

social justice Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...

organisations over the years, including Reconciliation South Australia, the Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre at the

University of South Australia The University of South Australia is a public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1991, it is the successor of the former South Australian Institute of Technology. Its main campuses along North Terrace are ...

, the Don Dunstan Foundation, and CATSINaM (Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives).

Recognition and honours

In the 1976 Australia Day Honours, O'Donoghue became the first Aboriginal woman to be inducted into the new

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

founded by the

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 labour ...

Commonwealth Government. The appointment, as a Member of the Order (AM) was "for service to the Aboriginal community". In 1982 she won an

Advance Australia Award The Advance Australia Foundation (AAF) was established in 1980. The AAF recognised "individuals or groups who have made outstanding contributions to the growth and enhancement of Australia, the Australian people and the Australian way of life". I ...

. O'Donoghue was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the

1983 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1983 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countrie ...

for service to the Aboriginal community, and was named

Australian of the Year The Australian of the Year is a national award conferred on an Australian citizen by the National Australia Day Council, a not-for-profit Australian Government-owned social enterprise. Similar awards are also conferred at the state and territor ...

in 1984, for her work to improve the welfare of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. In 1995, the Royal College of Nursing, Australia awarded her an honorary fellowship, and in 1998 she was awarded an honorary fellowship from the

Royal Australasian College of Physicians The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) is a not-for-profit professional organisation responsible for training and educating physicians and paediatricians across Australia and New Zealand. The RACP is responsible for training both ...

. In 1998 she was declared an National Living Treasure. O'Donoghue was appointed a

Companion of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

(AC) in the 1999 Australia Day Honours, "for public service through leadership to Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians in the areas of human rights and social justice, particularly as chairperson of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission". O'Donoghue was inducted into the

Olympic Order The Olympic Order, established in 1975, is the highest award of the Olympic Movement. It is awarded for particularly distinguished contributions to the Olympic Movement, i.e. recognition of efforts worthy of merit in the cause of sport. Tradit ...

in 2000 and onto the

Victorian Honour Roll of Women The Victorian Honour Roll of Women was established in 2001 to recognise the achievements of women from the Australian state of Victoria. It was launched by The Hon. Joan Kirner AC as a joint initiative of the Centenary of Federation Victoria Comm ...

in 2001. In 2005 or 2006, O'Donoghue was invested as a Dame of the Order of St Gregory the Great (DSG) by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

. In 2009 she received the NAIDOC Lifetime Achievement Award. In May 2017, O'Donoghue was one of three Indigenous Australians, along with

Tom Calma Thomas Edwin Calma (born 1953), is an Aboriginal Australian human rights and social justice campaigner, and 2023 senior Australian of the Year. He was the sixth chancellor of the University of Canberra (2014-2023), after two years as deputy ch ...

and Galarrwuy Yunupingu, honoured by

Australia Post Australia Post, formally the Australian Postal Corporation and also known as AusPost, is an Australian Government-State-owned enterprise, owned corporation that provides postal services throughout Australia. Australia Post's head office is loca ...

in the 2017 Legends Commemorative Stamp "Indigenous leaders" series to mark the 50th anniversary of the

. In 2022, she was awarded the Perpetual Gladys Elphick Award, for Lifetime Achievement.

Academia

In 2000 O'Donoghue was awarded an honorary professorial fellow at

Flinders University Flinders University, established as The Flinders University of South Australia is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia, with a footprint extending across a number of locations in South Australia and ...

and became a visiting fellow at Flinders University. O'Donoghue received at least six

honorary doctorates An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

Australian universities. These include: *

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

(law) *

Notre Dame University The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Catholic religious order o ...

(law) *

Queensland University of Technology The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public university, public research university located in the city of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. It has two major campuses, a modern city campus in Gardens Point, Brisbane, Gardens Point ...

*In September 2021, O'Donoghue was awarded an honorary doctorate from the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. Its main campus in the Adelaide city centre includes many Sa ...

for her "lifetime contribution to the advancement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights, leading to significant outcomes in health, education, political representation, land rights and reconciliation".

Biography

In September 2020, an authorised biography of her life titled ''Lowitja: The Authorised Biography of Lowitja O'Donoghue'', written by Stuart Rintoul, was published. Rintoul formerly journalist and senior writer at ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet daily newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership of b ...

'', is also an expert in Indigenous languages and history. The book was shortlisted for a

Walkley Award The annual Walkley Awards are presented in Australia to recognise and reward excellence in journalism. They cover all media including print, television, documentary, radio, photographic and online media. The Gold Walkley is the highest prize and ...

for Best Non-Fiction Book, and was highly commended in the National Biography Awards in 2021.

Lowitja O'Donoghue Oration

Since her inaugural oration at the Don Dunstan Foundation in 2007, the Lowitja O'Donoghue Oration has been held annually by the Foundation at the

, with a series of speakers illuminating aspects of

' past and future in Australian society. It is held each year in Reconciliation Week, with the 2007 event celebrating the 40th anniversary of the

. Each orator was chosen by O'Donoghue.

Speakers have included:

*2007: Lowitja O'Donoghue *2008: Tim Costello *2009: Jackie Huggins and

Fred Chaney Frederick Michael Chaney, AO (born 28 October 1941) is an Australian former politician who was deputy leader of the Liberal Party from 1989 to 1990 and served as a minister in the Fraser government. He was a Senator for Western Australia from ...

*2010: Ray Martin *2011:

*2012: Michael Kirby *2013: Olga Havnen *2014:

Pat Dodson 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 ...

*2015:

Marcia Langton Marcia Lynne Langton (born 31 October 1951) is an Aboriginal Australian writer and academic. she is the Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne. Langton is an acti ...

*2016:

Lynn Arnold Lynn Maurice Ferguson Arnold, (born 27 January 1949) is an Anglican priest and a former Australian politician, who represented the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party, serving as Premier of South Australia between 4 Septembe ...

*2017: Frank Brennan *2018:

Noel Pearson Noel Pearson (born 25 June 1965) is an Australian lawyer and founder of the Cape York Partnership, an organisation promoting the economic and social development of Cape York. He is also the Founder of Good to Great Schools Australia an organi ...

*2019: David Rathman *2020: No event due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Australia The COVID-19 pandemic in Australia was a part of the COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first confirmed case in Aust ...

*2021: Pat Anderson *2022:

Linda Burney Linda Jean Burney (born 25 April 1957) is an Australian Labor Party (ALP) politician who was the member of Parliament (MP) for the division of Barton from 2016 to 2025. She was the minister for Indigenous Australians from 2022 to July 2024. S ...

*2023:

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 the Leaders of the Australian Labor Party#Leader, leader of the Labor Party si ...

*2024:

Lowitja Institute

The Lowitja Institute is a national research centre known as a

Cooperative Research Centre Cooperative Research Centres (CRCs) are an Australian Federal Government program involved in Australian scientific research. The CRC programme is administered by the Commonwealth Department of Industry, Science and Resources, which provides fund ...

or CRC, focusing on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health. It was established in January 2010 and named in honour of its patron. The Lowitja Institute Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health CRC (also known as the Lowitja Institute CRC), funded by the Australian Government's Cooperative Research Centres programme, was part of the Institute until 30 June 2019. The history of this and the whole Lowitja Institute dates from the first CRC, the CRC for Aboriginal and Tropical Health (CRCATH), which was founded in Darwin in 1997 with Lowitja as inaugural chair. Based on its success, two further CRCs were funded by the government: CRC for Aboriginal Health (CRCAH, 2003–2009), followed by the CRC for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health (CRCATSIH, 2010–2014), this time hosted by the new Lowitja Institute. The Lowitja Institute CRC developed three research programmes and conducted workshops. Both the Institute and the CRCs have led reform in Indigenous health research, with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people determining the outcomes. , there are 12 member organisations of the Lowitja Institute, including

AIATSIS The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), established as the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies (AIAS) in 1964, is an independent Australian Government statutory authority. It is a collecting, ...

, the Australian Indigenous Doctors' Association (AIDA),

, the

Menzies School of Health Research Charles Darwin University (CDU) is an Australian public university with two campuses in Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and six satellite campuses in metropolitan and regional areas of the Northern Territory. It was established in 2003 after ...

, the

Healing Foundation The Stolen Generations (also known as Stolen Children) were the children of Aboriginal Australians, Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian Gover ...

and the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

. Directors of the Institute include

June Oscar June Oscar is an Aboriginal Australians, Australian Aboriginal woman of Bunuba descent, Indigenous rights activist, community health and welfare worker, Film producer, film and Theatrical producer, theatre, and since 2017 and Australian Human R ...

, Pat Anderson, and Peter Buckskin. The Institute provides project grants for up to three years to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations or groups undertaking research focused on improving Indigenous health and wellbeing. The main requirement is that the research aligns with the themes of the Lowitja Institute Research Agenda of empowerment, sovereignty, connectedness, and cultural safety in the healthcare setting.

Lowitja O'Donoghue Foundation

On 1 August 2022, the day on which O'Donoghue celebrated her 90th birthday, the Lowitja Institute announced the establishment of the Lowitja O'Donoghue Foundation. The Foundation is a

charitable organisation A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definitio ...

which seeks funding for scholarships to assist Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people to pursue nursing studies or to work in the public service sector; and to build an archive and educational resources relating to O'Donoghue's life and achievements.

Marriage and personal life

In 1979 O'Donoghue married Gordon Smart, a medical orderly at the Repatriation Hospital, whom she had first met in 1964. He died in 1991 or 1992. He had six adult children from a previous marriage,Lawrence Money, "The good life", ''The Age'', 6 December 2014, Spectrum, p. 4 but they had no children together. She cited

Martin Luther King Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights movement from 1955 until his a ...

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

, Archbishop Tutu,

Don Dunstan Donald Allan Dunstan (21 September 1926 – 6 February 1999) was an Australian politician who served as the 35th premier of South Australia from 1967 to 1968, and again from 1970 to 1979. He was a member of the House of Assembly (MHA) for th ...

, and

as having provided inspiration to her, and also praised the

Fraser government The Fraser government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser. It was made up of members of a Liberal–Country party coalition in the Australian Parliament from November 1975 to March 1983. Init ...

for having passed the '' Land Rights Act'' in 1976. Featured on ABC Television's ''

Compass A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself with No ...

'' in 1997, O'Donoghue said that she felt "angry about the policy that removed us and also took away our culture, took away our language and took away our families... ndabout the mission authorities for not in fact keeping in touch with my mother and at least sending her some photographs so she could know that we were OK and what we looked like".

Later life, death and legacy

O'Donoghue retired from public life in 2008, and in her later years was cared for by her family on

Kaurna The Kaurna people (, ; also Coorna, Kaura, Gaurna and other variations) are a group of Aboriginal people whose traditional lands include the Adelaide Plains of South Australia. They were known as the Adelaide tribe by the early settlers. Kau ...

land in South Australia. On 4 February 2024 her family announced in a statement she had died in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

. O'Donoghue was 91. On 8 March 2024, a

state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements o ...

was held in St Peter’s Cathedral in

North Adelaide North Adelaide is a predominantly residential precinct (Australia), precinct and suburb of the City of Adelaide in South Australia, situated north of the River Torrens and within the Adelaide Park Lands. Laid out in a grid plan in three section ...

, which was attended by prime minister

, Minister for Indigenous Australians

, governor-general of Australia

David Hurley David John Hurley (born 26 August 1953) is an Australian former senior officer in the Australian Army who served as the 27th governor-general of Australia from 2019 to 2024. He was previously the 38th governor of New South Wales from 2014 to ...

, South Australian premier

Peter Malinauskas Peter Bryden Malinauskas (English: ; ; born 14 August 1980) is an Australian politician serving as the 47th and current premier of South Australia since 2022. He has been the leader of the South Australian branch of the Australian Labor Party ...

, and governor of South Australia

Frances Adamson Frances Jennifer Adamson (born 20 April 1961) is an Australian public servant and diplomat who is the 36th Governor of South Australia, in office since 7 October 2021. She previously served as Australian Ambassador to China from 2011 to 2015 a ...

, Lowitja Foundation chair Pat Anderson, and hundreds of relatives, friends, and supporters. Oscar played tribute to her "enormous contribution", saying "Dr O'Donoghue had an extraordinary lifelong career of service ndshe played a leading role in many of the major political movements across her long lifetime".

Footnotes

References

Citations

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:ODonoghue, Lowitja 1932 births 2024 deaths Indigenous Australians in South Australia Australian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Australian indigenous rights activists Australian women human rights activists Australian of the Year Award winners Australian people of Irish descent Australian women nurses Australian nurses Companions of the Order of Australia Dames Commander of St. Gregory the Great Members of the Stolen Generations Recipients of the Olympic Order Australian republicans Pitjantjatjara people People educated at Unley High School