Indigenous advocate Inala Cooper graduates
Inala Cooper with her father, Professor Mick Dodson and uncle, Patrick Dodson.
Indigenous education advocate Inala Cooper today graduated from Monash University with a Master of Human Rights Law.
Inala Cooper, daughter of Monash Distinguished Alumni, Indigenous advocate, lawyer and academic, Professor Mick Dodson AM, Monash University Faculty of Law’s first Aboriginal law graduate, graduated at a ceremony in Melbourne today.
Inala is currently the Senior Adviser, Indigenous Policy and Strategy at Monash University’s Yulendj Indigenous Engagement Unit. She is dedicated to the advancement of the rights of Indigenous Australians and is passionate about closing the gap in education.
“I have no plans to embark on an academic career, despite my dad’s best efforts,” Inala said.
“I’m going to draw on my skills and talents to try and ensure that more Indigenous people have access to a quality education and that Monash continues to have a human rights focus in creating that access. I have had that opportunity and through my work at Monash I am helping create those opportunities for other Indigenous people.
“The person who discovers a cure for cancer, the next astronaut or the next person who sits at the UN could be an Indigenous person who has had the chance to excel in their chosen field. I know that by working to create those chances is where I can make the biggest difference to the lives of others.”
Inala is currently working with the University to increase access and support for Indigenous students, ensure retention and advancement of Indigenous staff and students, and maintain a culturally safe environment for Indigenous people at Monash.
Inala’s undergraduate degree was in Arts, majoring in Drama and Contemporary Dance and she first went to the United Nations in Geneva at the age of 14. It was after a trip to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York in 2009, as assistant to her dad Mick, former Expert Member, that she realised embarking on postgraduate study in human rights would be the next stepping stone in her career.
Inala is a former employee of the Victorian Department of Planning and Community Development, working in the Ministerial Taskforce on Aboriginal Affairs. She is a member of the Yawuru peoples, the traditional Aboriginal owners of land and waters of Broome, Western Australia and was a finalist for the Institute of Public Administration Australia Young Indigenous Leader Award in 2009.
Distinguished Alumni Professor Mick Dodson completed a Bachelor of Jurisprudence in 1974 and a Bachelor of Laws at Monash University in 1978. He was Australia's first Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner with the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission - serving as Commissioner from April 1993 to January 1998.
He was named Australian of the Year in 2009 in recognition of his lifetime commitment to improving the lives of Aboriginal people and promoting understanding between all Australians. In 2003 he became a Member of the Order of Australia for service to the Indigenous community and as a campaigner for native title rights.
Patrick Dodson, former Chairman of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation (now Reconciliation Australia), former Commissioner into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and uncle to Inala was also present to witness her graduation.