Pat Dudgeon

Ph.D.

Professor, School of Indigenous Studies, University of Western Australia

CIA Professor Pat Dudgeon is an expert in Indigenous Mental Health and Professor at the School of Indigenous Studies, University of Western Australia.

Expert Bio

CIA Professor Pat Dudgeon is a Bardi woman from the Kimberley Western Australia and Australia’s first Aboriginal psychologist. Her career spans over 40 years, during which she has made a distinguished contribution to Indigenous psychology, social and emotional wellbeing, and suicide prevention. Pat Dudgeon is a Research Fellow in the school of Indigenous Studies and Director of the National Centre of Best Practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention, as well as being a founding member of Australian Indigenous Psychologist Association and Gayaa Dhuwi Proud Spirit. She has also led the Centre for Aboriginal Studies at Curtin University for 19 years. In her leadership roles, CIA Dudgeon is at the fore-front, initiating significant change in approaches to empowerment and inclusion of Indigenous people at all levels of mental health services. She became a Commissioner with the National Mental Health Commission 2012-2017 and was the Chair, now Director, of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Leadership Group and is also a member of the International Group on Indigenous Health Measurement. She is currently the Co-Chair of the national ministerial Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Advisory Group, She is a member of the Working Party for the Kimberley Suicide Prevention Trial Site and the Chair of Data group for Working Party for the Kimberley Suicide Prevention Trial Site. She is also an Expert Panel Member for the WA Children. CIA Dudgeon’s research track record highlights her skills and capacity in community engagement, consultation and responsiveness as she draws upon multidisciplinary engagement for large, integrated projects that map social phenomena and implement transformative methods and practices focused on Indigenous health and wellbeing, such as the national, multi-site programs in the National Empowerment Project and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Evaluation Project (ATSISPEP). She was also the lead editor and contributor to the Working Together: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health and Wellbeing Book (2014). She has published extensively (>1562 citations, in past 5-yrs) in both peer-review and policy reports and has received over $18 million in grant funding. Professor Dudgeon has attracted Category I competitive research funding to support her work on Aboriginal mental health, suicide prevention, and community empowerment; equating to approximately $11 million over the past five years. She currently is a CI on three NHMRC grants; was a CI on a NMHRC CRE Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing: From Marginalised to Empowered: Transformative Methods for Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing (joint with the Telethon Institute of Child Health Research, WA); and an ARC Indigenous Discovery grant Cultural Continuity and Change: Indigenous Solutions to Mental Health Issues. In response to COVID-19, CIA Dudgeon led the Indigenous chapter in the Go8 ‘Roadmap to Recovery’, and led the National COVID-19 Pandemic Issues Paper on Mental Health and Wellbeing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. CIA Dudgeon will oversee the proposed project; and take the lead in ensuring Indigenous governance, Aboriginal research methodology, and building capacity in ACCHOs, and partners.