Lowitja O'Donoghue Oration

Each year the Don Dunstan Foundation presents the annual Lowitja O’Donoghue Oration named in honour of the late Dr O’Donoghue.

Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue AC CBE DSG

Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue AC CBE DSG was a Yankunytjatjara woman who dedicated her life to improving the welfare of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. She was named Australian of the Year in 1984 and was the inaugural chairperson of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission. She was the first Aboriginal woman to be inducted into the Order of Australia (AO) and was a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). Dr O’Donoghue was awarded Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in 1999 and Dame of the Order of St Gregory the Great (DSG), a Papal Award, in 2005.

She passed away on February 4, 2024 on Kaurna Country.

The authorised biography ‘Lowitja’, written by Stuart Rintoul, was published in September 2020.

Orations


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2024 | PROFESSOR TOM CALMA AO

Looking Back to Look Forward – lessons from the past to influence actions of the future

2023 | HON ANTHONY ALBANESE MP

A Moment to Unite

2022 | HON LINDA BURNEY MP

The Way Forward, Informed by the Past

Presented on the eve of Ms Burney being sworn in as Australia’s Minister for Indigenous Affairs

2021 | PAT ANDERSON AO

Continuing the story: resolving the issues that won’t go away

Today we continue that story through the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

2019 | DAVID RATHMAN AM PSM FIML

Storytelling: Culture, Truth-telling and the Arts

2018 | NOEL PEARSON

The Uluru Statement from the Heart: One Year On

2017 | FR FRANK BRENNAN SJ AO

On Aboriginal Land: Seeking a Place at the Table

2016 | THE HON.  REV. DR LYNN ARNOLD AO

Lingua Nullius: A Retrospect and Prospect about Australia’s First Languages

2015 | PROFESSOR MARCIA LANGTON AO

Freedom Songs: The Unfinished Business of the 1967 Referendum

2014 | PROFESSOR PATRICK DODSON

Rights, Recognition and Reconciliation

2013 | MS OLGA HAVNEN

Healing the Fault Lines: uniting politicians, bureaucrats and NGOs for improved outcomes in Aboriginal Health

2012 | THE HON. MICHAEL KIRBY AC CMG

Constitutions, interventions and other melancholy takes

2011 | THE HON. PAUL KEATING

Lowitja O’Donoghue and Native Title: Leadership pointing the way to identity, inclusion and justice.

2010 | MR RAY MARTIN AM

Walking together on the Journey of Healing

2009 | DR JACKIE HUGGINS AM AND THE HON. FRED CHANEY AO

Bringing black and white Australians together

2008 | THE REV. TIM COSTELLO

The Journey is Healing: How we go forward after ‘Sorry’

2007 | DR LOWITJA O’DONOGHUE

Black and White Together, We Shall Overcome, Some Day


Past events