No Tags for this person

Add a tag


Separate multiple tags with a semicolon test cricket; Perth (WA)

O'Shane, Patricia (1941-)

Also known as
O'Shane, Pat (1941-)
O'Shane, Patricia J.
Persistent Identifier
http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-621074

Biographies

Australian Women's Register

Patricia O'Shane was born in Northern Queensland in 1941. A noted activist for indigenous rights, her achievements in the public sphere have been remarkable. She was the first Aboriginal Australian Barrister (1976) and the first woman to be appointed to the New South Wales Metropolitan Water, Sewerage and Drainage Board (1979). When she was appointed permanent head of the New South Wales Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs in 1981, she became not only the first Aboriginal person but also the first woman to become a permanent head of ministry in Australia.

Patricia O'Shane was born in 1941 in the small township of Mossman, North Queensland. She attended State primary and high schools in Cairns, and was awarded a Teacher's Scholarship, which enabled her to study full-time at the Queensland Teachers' Training College, and part-time at the University of Queensland. After graduating from Teachers' College, she taught at primary and high schools respectively before and after her marriage. In 1973, having received an Aboriginal study grant from the Federal Government, she undertook a Bachelor of Laws degree at the University of New South Wales, and completed the course at the end of 1975. In March 1976 she became Australia's first Aboriginal Barrister at a ceremony in the New South Wales Supreme Court. In 1979 she was appointed a Member of the New South Wales Metropolitan Water, Sewerage and Drainage Board - the first female member in the Board's 91-year history. She has worked with the New South Wales Select Committee of the Legislative Assembly on Aborigines, as Coordinator of the Aboriginal Task Force. In November 1981 Pat O'Shane was appointed permanent head of the New South Wales Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs, becoming not only the first Aboriginal person but also the first woman to become permanent head of a ministry in Australia.

View the full record at Australian Women's Register

Resources

Selected resources (13)

Australian Women's Register

  1. Aborigines and the criminal justice system
    O'Shane, Patricia
    [1992]
    Published: Institue of Criminology, Sydney University Law School, Sydney
  2. A Healthy Sense of Identity
    O'Shane, Pat
    [1984]
    Published: Hale and Iremonger, Marrickville
  3. Australia's First Aboriginal Lawyer
    [1976]
  4. Rebel Magistrate with a passion for justice
    Lawson, Kirsten
    [2001]
  5. Dhirrabuu Mari = Outstanding Indigenous Australians
    Brown, Di
    [2000]
    Published: Coolabah Publishing, Toowoomba, Qld
  6. Splitting the World Open: Taller Poppies and Me
    Mitchell, Susan
    [2001]
    Published: Allen & Unwin, St Leonards, NSW
  7. Tall Poppies: Nine Successful Australian Women Talk to Susan Mitchell
    Mitchell, Susan
    [1984]
    Published: Penguin, Ringwood
  8. Indigenous Heroes and Leaders
    Barlow, Alex and Hill, Marji
    [2003]
    Published: Heinemann Library, Port Melbourne, Vic
  9. Some Aboriginal women pathfinders : their difficulties and their achievements
    Beeson, Margaret J (compiled by)
    [[1980]]
    Published: Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Australia, Adelaide
  10. The wailing : a national Black oral history
    Rintoul, Stuart.
    [1993]
    Published: William Heinemann, Port Melbourne
  11. Aboriginal women
    Richards, Michaela
    [1988]
    Published: Angus & Robertson, North Ryde, N.S.W.
  12. Murawina : Australian women of high achievement
    Roberta Sykes ; photography by Sandy Edwards
    [1993]
    Published: Doubleday, Sydney
  13. The matriarchs: twelve Australian women talk about their lives to Susan Mitchell.
    Mitchell, Susan
    [1987]
    Published: Penguin Books, Ringwood, Vic.

Comments for this person

Add a comment



Australian Newspapers (1803-1954)

No results

Minimise
  1. Website: Australian Women in War
    www.womenaustralia.info
    Matching pages:
    View 8 matching archived pages
  2. Website: Australian Women's Archives Project
    www.womenaustralia.info
    Matching pages:
    View 20 matching archived pages
  3. Website: Putting skirts on the sacred benches : women candidates for the New South Wales Parliament
    www.womenaustralia.info
    Matching pages:

About People and Organisations

No results

Minimise

Maps

No results

Minimise