Pat O'Shane | |
|---|---|
| Chancellor of the University of New England | |
| In office 1994–2003 | |
| Preceded by | Rob Robertson-Cuninghame |
| Succeeded by | John Cassidy |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Patricia June O'Shane 1941 (age 82–83) Mossman, Queensland, Australia |
| Political party | Socialist Alliance |
| Alma mater | |
| Profession |
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Patricia June O'Shane AM (born 1941) is a retired Australian teacher, barrister, public servant, jurist, and Aboriginal activist. She was Australia's first Aboriginal magistrate, serving the Local Court in Sydney, New South Wales, between 1986 until her retirement in 2013.
O'Shane was the first female Aboriginal teacher in Queensland; the first Aboriginal to earn a law degree; the first Aboriginal barrister; and the first woman and Aboriginal person to be the head of a government department in Australia, the New South Wales Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs.