Councillor Pat DixonPrint Page

The monument commemorates indigenous Councillor Pat Dixon, for her services to local government from 1983 to 2001. 

Patricia Dixon was the first Aboriginal woman elected to local government in New South Wales, and the first Aboriginal woman federal candidate for the Australian Labor Party. In 1983 she was elected to Armidale City Council, becoming the first Aboriginal person elected to local government in New South Wales. Working with Lowitje (Lois) O’Donoghue, she saw numbers of Aboriginal people participating in local councils nationally build to over 600 in 1998.

Dixon spent over 17 years in local government, serving on the Armidale City Council as a member and, for three years, as Deputy Mayor. She also worked for the Australian Local Government Association (Canberra) and the Department of Local Government in New South Wales. She served as Chairperson of the Armidale & District Aboriginal Cultural Centre and Keeping Place; was a member of the New South Wales State Committee for Reconciliation; and was the Chief Executive Officer of the Aboriginal Medical Service in Armidale at the time of her death.

In 1997, Patricia Dixon was pre-selected by the Australian Labor Party in the seat of New England, becoming the first Aboriginal woman federal candidate for the Australian Labor Party. She passed away just before the 2001 Federal Election was called.

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