Lowitja O'Donoghue

Indigenous trailblazer Lowitja O'Donoghue dies aged 91

Retrieved on: 
星期一, 二月 5, 2024
Policy, Native Title Act 1993, Instinct, Royal Adelaide Hospital, Legislation, Heart, National Native Title Tribunal, Courage, Indigenous Australians, Aboriginal title, Generator, Ageing, Missionary, Indigenous territory, High court, Human, Apology, Death, Lowitja O'Donoghue, Commonwealth, Health, Stolen Generations, Whaling

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains the name and images of a deceased person.

Key Points: 
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains the name and images of a deceased person.
  • One of Australia’s most highly-regarded Indigenous leaders, Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue, has died aged 91.


Later she was the first woman to be a regional director of an Australian federal department.

  • She was involved in Indigenous causes ranging in scope from the 1967 referendum to the native title legislation of the 1990s.
  • She turned down Paul Keating’s offer of the governor-generalship.


Her family said in a statement announcing her death: “Aunty Lowitja dedicated her entire lifetime of work to the rights, health, and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples”.

‘A giant for our country’

  • Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described O'Donoghue as “a figure of grace, moral clarity, and extraordinary inner strength.
  • She provided courageous leadership during the Mabo debates and as chair of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission,” Albanese said.
  • She taught me how to be a good public servant and to operate ethically.” Noel Pearson said O'Donoghue was “a leaders’ leader”.
  • "Without Lowitja’s ATSIC we would never have defended Eddie Mabo’s great legacy and negotiated the Native Title Act and Indigenous Land Fund.”


Lowitja Institute patron Pat Anderson said she was “a national treasure”. “Courageous and fearless in leading change, Lowitja was continually striving for better outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. She will remain in my heart as a true friend and an inspiration to Australians for years to come.”

Keating pays tribute

  • Keating said in a statement that O'Donoghue “led the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission with great power and
    ambition.
  • "The consultation which gave effect to an Aboriginal voice speaking and representing a national community in designing a law to recover their expropritated traditional lands.


Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Gilead Sciences Announces Its Largest Commitment to Health Equity for Australian and Canadian Indigenous Communities

Retrieved on: 
星期日, 七月 23, 2023
Infectious Diseases, Hospitals, Philanthropy, Biotechnology, AIDS, Health, Fund Raising, Pharmaceutical, Foundation, Gilead Sciences, Public affairs, Senior, HIV, Lowitja O'Donoghue, Health equity, Colonization, Organization, Indigenous peoples, Incidence, Science Inc., Diagnosis, Vaccine, Pharmaceutical industry, Indigenous

Gilead Sciences Inc. (Nasdaq: GILD) today announced its largest commitment to health equity for Australian and Canadian Indigenous communities.

Key Points: 
  • Gilead Sciences Inc. (Nasdaq: GILD) today announced its largest commitment to health equity for Australian and Canadian Indigenous communities.
  • The initiative will support programs addressing societal barriers to care that persistently contribute to the transmission of HIV and viral hepatitis within Indigenous communities.
  • This program is a targeted effort to help address the disparities in health outcomes impacting Indigenous communities, resulting from the ongoing effects of colonialization in each country.
  • Gilead’s funding commitment underscores the company’s unique efforts to increase health equity and help end the HIV epidemic globally through robust community partnerships and philanthropy.