Pat O'Shane. Fearless advocate for legal reform, human rights and gender equality.

Pat O'Shane is a Kuku Yalanji woman, lawyer, former magistrate, public servant, educator, and Indigenous-rights advocate. Born in Mossman, Queensland, in 1941, she became one of Australia’s most prominent Indigenous legal figures through a career marked by groundbreaking appointments in education, law, government, and the judiciary.

O'Shane became the first Aboriginal woman to teach in Queensland, then studied law at the University of New South Wales, becoming its first Aboriginal graduate and, in 1976, Australia's first First Nations barrister. In 1986 she reached another landmark when she became Australia's first Aboriginal magistrate, serving in the New South Wales Local Court until retiring in 2013.

O'Shane's career has been closely intertwined with advocacy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights, women's equality, and opposition to racism. She developed a reputation as an outspoken public figure willing to connect questions of law and government with broader structural inequality, continuing advocacy and pro bono legal work after leaving the bench.

Pat O'Shane was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM), received an honorary Doctor of Laws from UNSW, and received the 2021 National NAIDOC Lifetime Achievement Award for her longstanding leadership and advocacy.