Yankunytjatjara woman and Indigenous health leader, Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue will be honoured with a state funeral on March 8.
The trailblazer passed away on February 4, in Adelaide on Kaurna Country. Her immediate family was by her side at the time.
She was 91.
South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas announced the state funeral for Dr O’Donoghue on Tuesday.
“Through her lifelong work, Dr O’Donoghue has made an incredible contribution to the betterment of our country and people,” he said.
“[She] leaves a legacy of strong advocacy, passion and dedication.”
The memorial will take place at St Peter’s Cathedral, on Kaurna Country in North Adelaide.
Dr O’Donoghue was a member of the Stolen Generation, removed from her family and taken to Colebrook Children’s Home at Quorn.
She began working as a Nanny and was encouraged to pursue nursing – however, due to her Aboriginality, she would be denied.
She joined the Aborigines Advancement League, who were petitioning for the inclusion of Aboriginal people in nursing. This began her long career in activism and advocacy, and her further spakred her passion for self-determination for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Charge sister at Royal Adelaide Hospital 1959. Credit: Lowitja O’Donoghue Collection
Dr O’Donoghue was the first Aboriginal person to train as a nurse at Royal Adelaide Hospital in 1954 and the first Aboriginal person to address the United Nations in 1992.
She campaigned for a successful referendum in 1967, was a key player in the development of the Native Title Act and advised on the National Apology to the Stolen Generation in 2008.
Dr O’Donoghue was made a member of the Order of Australia in 1977, and was named Australian of the Year in 1984.
She was the inaugural chairperson of the National Aboriginal Conference and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission in 1990.
The non-profit Lowitja O’Donoghue Foundation was set up in 2022 to continue her legacy.
‘There will only ever be one Lowitja O’Donoghue’
At the time of her passing, Minister for Indigenous Affairs Linda Burney acknowledged Dr O’Donoghue’s “leadership and tenacity”.
She believed it to be an “inspiration for generations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians” including herself.
“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,” she said.
The leader will be remembered by her family as not only their “matriarch” but as a woman they have “loved and looked up” their entire lives.
“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,” said Dr O’Donoghue’s niece Deb Edwards.
Ms Edwards said her Aunty dedicated her “lifetime of work to the rights, health, and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples”.
“We thank her for being a formidable leader who was never afraid to listen, speak and act. Always with strength, determination, grace, and dignity,” she said.
“There will only ever be, one, Lowitja O’Donoghue.
“She who always believed that ‘we shall overcome someday’.”
