Mick Dodson

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Aboriginal Australian barrister, academic and Indigenous rights advocate

title: "Mick Dodson" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1950-births", "living-people", "australian-barristers", "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-northern-territory", "fellows-of-the-academy-of-the-social-sciences-in-australia", "academic-staff-of-the-australian-national-university", "indigenous-australian-academics", "australian-republicans"] description: "Aboriginal Australian barrister, academic and Indigenous rights advocate" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mick_Dodson" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Aboriginal Australian barrister, academic and Indigenous rights advocate ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

FieldValue
nameMick Dodson
honorific-suffix
image03P-001-4 (21399974699) (Dodson cropped).jpg
alt
captionDodson in 2014
birth_nameMichael James Dodson
birth_date
birth_placeKatherine, Northern Territory, Australia
death_date
nationalityAustralian
occupationBarrister and academic; Professor of Law at the Australian National University
known_for
relationsPat Dodson (brother)
educationMonivae College
alma_materMonash University
::

| name = Mick Dodson | honorific-suffix = | image = 03P-001-4 (21399974699) (Dodson cropped).jpg | alt = | caption = Dodson in 2014 | birth_name = Michael James Dodson | birth_date = | birth_place = Katherine, Northern Territory, Australia | death_date = | death_place = | nationality = Australian | other_names = | occupation = Barrister and academic; Professor of Law at the Australian National University | years_active = | known_for = | notable_works = | relations = Pat Dodson (brother) | education = Monivae College | alma_mater = Monash University Michael James Dodson 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.

Early life and education

Michael James Dodson 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.

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.

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.

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

He has worked extensively as a legal adviser in native title and human rights.

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

Other roles and activities

Dodson has been active in politics of Australian government, justice, and crime prevention. 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.

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.

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.

Honours

Honorary doctorates

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

References

  1. (21 May 2012). "Public events".
  2. "Indigenous rights activist and lawyer Michael 'Mick' Dodson".
  3. until his retirement in March 2018.[https://www.anu.edu.au/events/the-final-lecture-professor-mick-dodson The final lecture]
  4. [https://researchers.anu.edu.au/researchers/dodson-mj Areas of expertise]
  5. "Mick Dodson: Australian activist and scholar".
  6. (16 July 2015). "Serving our Country: Indigenous Australians, war, defence and citizenship". National Centre for Indigenous Studies ANU College of Asia & the Pacific.
  7. Butler, Josh. (11 October 2023). "Australian of the Year winners sign open letter saying no vote in voice referendum would be a ‘shameful dead end’".
  8. Winter, Velvet. (10 October 2023). "Voice referendum live updates: Australians of the Year Yes vote letter in full".
  9. Stephens, Tony. (2022-12-11). "From the Archives, 1997: Australia’s 100 living treasures named".
  10. "Dr Michael James DODSON".
  11. [http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/mick-dodson-honoured/2009/01/25/1232818237027.html Mick Dodson named Australian of the Year]
  12. Lewis, Wendy. (2010). "Australians of the Year". Pier 9 Press.
  13. Redner, Erica Jaffe (6 December 2011). [http://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/voice-conscience-mick-dodsons-place-amidst-australias "Voice of Conscience: Mick Dodson’s Place Amidst Australia’s Unfinished Business"]. ''Cultural Survival Quarterly'' 35-4.
  14. (2014-12-02). "Council".
  15. "Academy Fellow – Professor Michael Dodson AM, FASSA, MAICD".
  16. (19 May 2021). "NT government concludes investigation into complaint against Treaty Commissioner Mick Dodson".

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