Renowned Aboriginal rights activist Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue passes away aged 91

Renowned Aboriginal rights activist Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue has died, aged 91, in Adelaide.

Aboriginal rights activist and leader Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue has died.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised this story includes images of an Indigenous person who has died.

Renowned Aboriginal rights activist and former Australian of the Year Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue AC CBE DG has died aged 91 on Sunday.

The Yankunytatjara leader and matriarch passed peacefully with her immediate family by her side on Kaurna country in Adelaide.

In a statement released by her family, the dearly loved aunty and nana was remembered as a “formidable leader who was never afraid to listen, speak and act”.

Lowitja O’Donoghue on her 1979 wedding day to Gordon Smart. Picture: Lowitja O'Donoghue Collection

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

“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.

“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.

“She was admired and respected universally, sought after to meet with dignitaries of the highest standing from all over the world, whilst being equally as loved in her own nation.

“We thank her for being a loving and devoted daughter, sister, Aunty and Nana to our families, always ensuring that we were looked after and cared for.

“As an Australian ‘National Living Treasure’, we shared her with admirers far and wide, but we always loved having her home close to us.

“There will only ever be one Lowitja O’Donoghue. She who always believed that ‘we shall overcome some day’.”

The life of a pioneer, Dr O’Donoghue

A Yankunytatjara woman, Dr O’Donoghue was born at 1932 at Indulkana on the APY Lands, in South Australia’s before being taken to be raised by missionaries at Colebrook Home for Half-Caste Children in Quorn aged two alongside her siblings.

In 1954, she overcame discrimination to became the first Aboriginal person to train as a nurse at the Royal Adelaide Hospital where she would work for 10 years, rising to the position of Sister Charge.

During the 1967 Referendum, she was a strong campaigner for the recognition of Aboriginal peoples before joining the South Australian branch of the Federal Office of Aboriginal Affairs.

From 1970-72, she became a member of the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement and was appointed to the position of Regional Director of the SA Department of Aboriginal Affairs, making her responsible for the local implementation of national Aboriginal welfare policy.

Working at the Department of Aboriginal Affairs during the 1970s – Lowitja O'Donoghue Collection

She would then go on to take numerous leadership roles including founding Chairperson of the National Aboriginal Conference in 1977 and the inaugural Chairperson of ATSIC – the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission – in 1990.

Breaking down barriers

In 1984 Dr O’Donoghue was named Australian of the Year in recognition of her work and personal contribution in bridging the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.

She would also go on to receive many other awards and honours throughout her lifetime including: Commander of the Order of the British Empire (1983), National Living Treasure (1998), Companion of the Order of Australia (1999), Dame of the Order of St Gregory the Great, a papal honour, even though she was not Catholic (2005) and NAIDOC Lifetime Achievement Award (2009).

She also played a pivotal role in negotiating the nation’s first native title laws with former Prime Minister Paul Keating who called her “a remarkable Australian leader … whose unfailing instinct for enlargement marks her out as unique”.

She would then go on to become the first Aboriginal person to address the United Nations General Assembly, during the launch of the United Nations International Year of Indigenous Peoples in 1992.

In 2008, then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd sought Dr O’Donoghue’s counsel on the historic Apology to the Stolen Generations.

Two years later Australia’s first and only national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community controlled health research institute, the Lowitja Institute, was established and named in her honour.

Over a decade later in 2022, the Lowitja O’Donoghue Foundation was also established in her honour, creating opportunities for advancement and change for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Remembered as a leader

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described her as “a figure of grace, moral clarity, and extraordinary inner strength”.

“Lowitja O’Donoghue was one of the most remarkable leaders this country has ever known,” he said.

“As we mourn her passing, we give thanks for the better Australia she helped make possible.”

Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney also paid tribute to her “remarkable” legacy with “great sadness and love”.

“Lowitja’s leadership and tenacity has been an inspiration for generations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, including myself,” she said.

“I had the great honour and privilege of working with Lowitja when I was appointed to the National Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation in 1997.

“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.”

Premier Peter Malinauskas said the state mourned the loss of a “truly great South Australian” who will be offered a state funeral in recognition of her “incredible service”.

“Determined, strong, thoughtful and deeply compassionate, Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue leaves a substantial legacy that will continue to be felt by future generations,” he said.

“On behalf of all South Australians, I extend my sympathies to Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue’s family, friends, and associates.”

Attorney-General Kyam Maher said her “legacy as a leader of both conviction and compassion will continue to inspire generations to come.”

“In honouring Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue’s memory, may we be inspired by the countless positive changes she contributed over her life.

“We recognise the profound impact she had on the country and the many lives she touched.

“Her legacy will forever stand as a testament to the influence of her relentless dedication and service.”

The Advertiser has been given permission to name Dr O’Donoghue and show her image.

Originally published as Renowned Aboriginal rights activist Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue passes away aged 91