Aboriginal rights activist Lowitja O’Donoghue dies aged 91

Indigenous leader Lowitja O’Donoghue, who was instrumental in negotiating Australia’s native title laws, has died with the Prime Minister leading the tributes.

Revered Aboriginal rights activist Lowitja O’Donoghue has been described as “one of the most remarkable leaders” Australia has ever seen following her death at the age of 91.

The Yankunytatjara woman and former Australian of the Year championed the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

In a statement, her family said she died peacefully on Kaurna Country in Adelaide.

“Our Aunty and Nana was the Matriarch of our family, whom we have loved and looked up to our entire lives,” they said.

“We adored and admired her when we were young and have grown up full of never-ending pride as she became one of the most respected and influential Aboriginal leaders this country has ever known.”

The former Australian of the Year championed the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The family said her legacy would continue through the Lowitja O’Donoghue Foundation, which was created on her 90th birthday.

“Aunty Lowitja dedicated her entire lifetime of work to the rights, health, and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples,” they said.

“We thank and honour her for all that she has done — for all the pathways she created, for all the doors she opened, for all the issues she tackled head-on, for all the tables she sat at and for all the arguments she fought and won.”

Dr O’Donoghue’s mother was Indigenous and her father was a pastoralist at De Rose Hill in South Australia.

At the age of two, she and her two sisters were taken from their mother.

She grew up at the Colebrook Children’s Home in Quorn and did not reunite with her mother until three decades later.

In 1992, Dr O’Donoghue became the first Australian Aboriginal person to address the United Nations General Assembly, calling for “the Australian constitution (to) be changed to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the continent’s original inhabitants”.

She was involved in negotiations with then prime minister Paul Keating in 1993 to create Australia’s Native Title legislation in following the Mabo High Court decision.

Her 1979 wedding day to Gordon Smart. Picture: Lowitja O'Donoghue Collection

In her 20s, Dr O’Donoghue became the first Aboriginal trainee nurse at Royal Adelaide Hospital.

She was later the first woman to be a regional director of an Australian federal department, founding chairperson of the National Aboriginal Conference and the first Aboriginal woman to be made a member of the Order of Australia in 1977.

In 1990, she became the inaugural chairperson of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission.

She was named Australian of the Year in 1984 and became a National Living Treasure in 1998.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Dr O’Donoghue was “one of the most remarkable leaders this country has ever known”.

“From the earliest days of her life, Dr O’Donoghue endured discrimination that would have given her every reason to lose faith in her country. Yet she never did,” he said.

Mr Albanese also praised her efforts to bring about meaningful reconciliation.

“With an unwavering instinct for justice and a profound desire to bring the country she loved closer together, Dr O’Donoghue was at the heart of some of the moments that carried Australia closer to the better future she knew was possible for us, among them the Apology to the Stolen Generation and the 1967 referendum,” he said.

“She provided courageous leadership during the Mabo debates and as chair of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission.”

My statement on the passing of Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue. pic.twitter.com/YEvO87AuqX

— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) February 4, 2024

Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney also paid tribute to her “remarkable legacy”, describing her as a

“fearless and passionate advocate” for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.

Ms Burney said she also displayed “enormous courage, dignity and grace” throughout her almost 60-year career in public life.

“She was a truly extraordinary leader. Lowitja was not just a giant for those of us who knew her, but a giant for our country,” the minister said.

“My thoughts and sincere condolences to her family.”

Originally published as Aboriginal rights activist Lowitja O’Donoghue dies aged 91