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Lois O'Donoghue CBE AM
1984 Award
Aboriginal Leader
Born in South Australia of a Pitjantjatjara mother and Irish father, O'Donoghue, aged two, was taken from her mother to a United Aboriginal Mission Children's Home. There she was trained for domestic work and did not see her mother again for 33 years. Her political career began when she had to fight a long battle for her right to train as a nurse. In 1967 O'Donoghue joined the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and by 1975 had become its regional director in South Australia. In 1977 she was the foundation chair of the National Aboriginal Conference, chair of the Aboriginal Development Commission, 1989-90, and, more recently, chair of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC).
She was a key consultant in the drafting of the Mabo legislation and is a member of the Republic Advisory Committee. O'Donoghue was named Australian of the Year in recognition of 'her enormous personal contribution in bridging the cultural gap between Aboriginal people and the rest of the Australian Community'. She believed the award highlighted the fight for Aboriginal equality: 'we are all here now and we have to solve our differences and live together as Australians.'
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