Honouring Pat O’Shane

Key points

• Pat O’Shane became the first Aboriginal barrister and magistrate in Australia. Born in 1941 in Mossman, Queensland, she spent four years in hospital after her mother’s death.
• She refused psychosurgery, stopped her medication and studied law at the University of New South Wales. In 1976 she became the first Indigenous Australian admitted to the Bar.
• In 1986 she was appointed a magistrate in New South Wales. She received the Marcia Langton award for lifetime achievement in leadership at the Deadly Awards in 2013.