This address will be taped and broadcast on ABC1 at 12.30pm on Wednesday February 18.  Repeat at 3.25am.

Professor Mick Dodson is a member of the Yawuru peoples of the Broome region of Western Australia. He is Co-Chair of Reconciliation Australia, Director of the National Centre for Indigenous Studies at the ANU and Chairman of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. Professor Dodson also represents Indigenous people of the Pacific region on the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

He has just been named Australian of the Year for 2009, the eighth Indigenous Australian to win this prestigious award in its 49 year history.

In the week of the first anniversary of the national apology on 13 February and the Prime Minister’s first report into closing the gap, Professor Dodson will use his address to the club to outline how he plans to use his role as Australian of the Year. Mick is a captivating speaker whose selection for this role has already generated national discussion. His address to the club will be an important marker in a year of deep and diverse challenges for all sectors in the Australian community.