Mick Dodson

Michael James Dodson AM, FASSA is an Aboriginal Australian barrister and academic. He was Australia's first Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner with the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. His brother is Pat Dodson, also a noted Aboriginal leader and from 2016 to 2024 a senator in the Federal Parliament, representing Western Australia.

Mick Dodson AM, FASSA
Dodson in 2014
Born	Michael James Dodson Katherine, Northern Territory, Australia
Nationality	Australian
Education	Monivae College
Alma mater	Monash University
Occupation(s)	Barrister and academic; Professor of Law at the Australian National University
Known for	First Indigenous person to graduate from law in Australia Prominent member of the Yawuru peoples in the Broome area of the southern Kimberley region of Western Australia Member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
Relatives	Pat Dodson (brother)

Early life and education

Michael James Dodson^{[citation needed]} was born in Katherine, Northern Territory, Australia. He is a member of the Yawuru people in the Broome area of the southern Kimberley region of Western Australia.^[1]

Following his parents' death, he boarded at Monivae College, Hamilton, Victoria. He graduated with degrees in jurisprudence and law from Monash University in 1974, as the first Indigenous person to graduate from law in Australia.^[2]

Career

Following graduation, Dodson worked as a solicitor for the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service from 1976 until around 1980. He was admitted to the Victorian Bar in 1981, and commenced work as a barrister.^[3]

In 1988 he was appointed as Counsel assisting the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, remaining in that role until 1990.^[3]

He has worked extensively as a legal adviser in native title and human rights.^[2]

Academia

Dodson has lectured as a visiting academic at the University of Arizona and Harvard University. He was Professor of Law at the Australian National University and director of its National Centre for Indigenous Studies^[2] until his retirement in March 2018.^[4]

Other roles and activities

Dodson has been active in politics of Australian government, justice, and crime prevention.^[5] He has been a prominent advocate of land rights and other issues affecting Indigenous Australians.

His efforts for the rights of indigenous people around the world in 2005 made him a member of United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.^[2]

In 2015 he was 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.^[6]

On 10 October 2023, Dodson was one of 25 Australians of the Year who signed an open letter supporting the Yes vote in the Indigenous Voice referendum, initiated by psychiatrist Patrick McGorry.^[7][8]

Honours

• Australian Living Treasure, 1997^[9]
• Distinguished Alumni Award, Monash University, 1998^{[citation needed]}
• Member of the Order of Australia (AM), 2003^[10]
• Member of the Order of Indonesia (PM), awarded on New Year's Day 2003^{[citation needed]}
• Australian of the Year^[11][12][13]
• Chairperson of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies^[14]
• Fellow, Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, 2009^[15]

Honorary doctorates

• Honorary Doctor of Letters, University of Technology Sydney, 1998
• Honorary Doctor of Laws, University of New South Wales, 1999
• Honorary Doctorate, University of Canberra, 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.^[16]