The Australian Women's Register

Born in 1932, in Indulkana, South Australia, Pitjantjatjara woman Lowita O’Donoghue was separated from her family at the age of two. She was taken by missionaries to the Colebrook Children’s home and brought up, with the name of Lois, under the white education system. O’Donoghue attended Unley General Technical High School, then trained as a nurse at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. She worked as a nurse from 1961 to 1972, partly among Aboriginal communities in northern South Australia. She was a member of the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement (1970-1972), and later regional director of the Adelaide Department of Aboriginal Affairs (1975-1976). O’Donoghue then worked in various capacities in the areas of health, housing, community development, Aboriginal and Islander studies, Native Title and the Sydney Olympics.

O’Donoghue has received many awards and accolades for her work, including being named Australian of the Year (1984), a National Living Treasure (1998), wining the Advance Australia award in 1982 and being appointed a member of the Order of Australia in 1977, a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1983, and a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in 1999. O’Donoghue was made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Australian College of Physicians (1998) and the Royal College of Nursing. She was also awarded Honorary Doctorates from the Australian National University, Murdoch University, Notre Dame University, Flinders University, the University of South Australia, Queensland University of Technology, the University of Melbourne, the University of Sydney and the University of Adelaide. She was appointed a Professorial Fellow at Flinders University in 2000.