Dodson, Mick (1950-…), is an Australian lawyer, scholar, and activist. He is a member of the Yawuru people, an Aboriginal group. Dodson has worked to promote the rights of the Indigenous peoples of Australia , including the nation’s Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples .
Michael James Dodson was born on April 10, 1950, in Katherine, in the Northern Territory. Following the death of his parents, he and his brother lived with his aunt and uncle. The boys attended a boarding school in Victoria.
From 1976 to 1981, Dodson worked with the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service to provide assistance to Australia’s Indigenous people. He earned a Bachelor of Jurisprudence degree in 1974 and a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1978. Both degrees were from Monash University in Clayton, a suburb in the Greater Melbourne area. In 1981, he was admitted to the Victorian Bar—that is, the body of lawyers licensed to practice law in the state of Victoria. He was Victoria’s first Aboriginal barrister (lawyer qualified to argue cases in the highest courts).
Dodson served on numerous councils and commissions to advance the rights of Indigenous Australians. In 1984, he became the senior legal adviser for the Northern Land Council. This organization helps Indigenous people reclaim and manage territory that belonged to their ancestors before the arrival of British settlers. Dodson became the council’s director in 1990.
From 1993 to 1998, Dodson served as the first Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner with the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. In this position, he co-wrote an influential government report called Bringing Them Home. The report looked at the Stolen Generations—the children, mostly of mixed Aboriginal and European descent, who were taken from their families by Australian governments from the 1870’s to the 1970’s (see Stolen Generations ).
Dodson has also served as director of the National Centre for Indigenous Studies at Australian National University and as chairman of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. In addition, he has worked with the United Nations to advance the rights of Indigenous people around the world. In 2003, he was made a Member of the Order of Australia. The Order of Australia is Australia’s highest award for service to the country or to humanity. Dodson was named Australian of the Year in 2009.
