Posted on Oct. 21: Lowitja O’Donoghue to speak at annual Gandhi lecture

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October 21, 2002

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Lowitja-O’Donogh.jpg” caption=”Lowitja O’Donoghue”]McMaster's Centre for Peace Studies will feature former Australian of the Year Lowitja O'Donoghue at its seventh annual Mahatma Gandhi Lecture on Nonviolence.

O'Donoghue, from Flinders University, South Australia, will speak on “Human rights and reconciliation in Australia in the 21st century: an unfinished journey”.

Born at Indulkana, located in central south Australia, O'Donoghue is a member of the Yankunjatjara people of North West South Australia. Her commendations include the Order of Australia (1977); commander of the British Empire (1983); Australian of the Year (1984) and Australia's Living National Treasures (1998). She was also the former chairperson of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) from the inception of the Commission.

After her retirement, O'Donoghue continued her commitment in the areas of Aboriginal health, welfare and human rights and is currently a visiting fellow at Flinders University. She is also chairperson of the Co-operative Research Centre for Aboriginal and Tropical Health; chairperson of the Sydney Olympic Games National Indigenous Advisory Committee; member of the Sydney Olympic Games Volunteers Committee; trustee of the Rio Tinto Aboriginal Foundation; and a member of the Indigenous Law Centre at the University of New South Wales.

O'Donoghue has received honorary doctorate awards from the Merdoch University in Western Australia; Flinders University of South Australia; University of South Australia; the Australian National University in Canberra and the Queensland University of Technology. She is an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Nursing Australia as well as the Royal College of Physicians. She is also the patron of the Military Nurses Memorial fund, the Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre and the Congress for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses.

The lecture series, sponsored by the Centre For Peace Studies, was established with the help of India-Canada Society and members of the Indo-Canadian Community and is endowed entirely by public donation. The Series was inaugurated in 1996 by Ovide Mercredi, national chief of the Assembly of Nations and has brought to McMaster several international speakers including academics and activists. The lecture is open to the public and admission is free.

The lecture will be held Wednesday, Oct. 23 in the Ewart Angus Centre, Room HSC-1A1 at 7:30 p.m.

O'Donoghue will also introduce the film Rabbit-Proof Fence, at a screening on Oct. 22 at 7 p.m. in McMaster University Medical Centre, Room HSC 1A04. Admission to the screening is free.