Numerous Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia have been notable for their contributions to politics, including participation in governments, and activism.
The lists of Indigenous Australians in public service, activism, law, education and humanities on this page, can never be complete and are fluid, but serve as a primer.
Even with the 1962 ruling, it was not until the Commonwealth Electoral Amendment Act 1983 that voting became compulsory for Aboriginal people, as it was for other Australians.
Neville Bonner was the first Indigenous man to become a member of the Federal Parliament, when he was appointed to fill a casual Senate vacancy in 1971.
[9] He was the first Aboriginal person to be selected as deputy leader of the Australian Democrats, and was in this role from April 2001 – October 2002.
[11] On 25 August in 1999 in his first speech to the Senate, he stated:"On this special occasion, I make my presence known as an Aborigine and to this chamber I say, perhaps for the first time: Nyandi baaliga Jaingatti.
[13] Jacinta Nampijinpa Price was elected Senator for NT in May 2022 and appointed Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians on 18 April 2023.