# Pat Eatock

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Pat_Eatock
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Pat_Eatock.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Eatock
> Source revision: 1305143989
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

**June Patricia** "**Pat**" **Eatock** (14 December 1937 – 17 March 2015) was an Indigenous Australian activist and academic. In 1972, she became the first Indigenous woman in Australia to stand for federal parliament.[1]

## Early years

She was born in [Redcliffe](/source/Redcliffe,_Queensland) to Roderick Eatock, of Aboriginal and English descent, and Scottish migrant Elizabeth Stephenson Anderson. Having left school at the age of fourteen, she moved to [Sydney](/source/Sydney) at eighteen and married her cousin, Ron Eatock, with whom she had six children.

## Career and activism

In 1972 she attended a [land rights](/source/Aboriginal_land_rights) conference in [Alice Springs](/source/Alice_Springs), after which she left her husband and moved to [Canberra](/source/Canberra). With her baby, Eatock joined the [Aboriginal Tent Embassy](/source/Aboriginal_Tent_Embassy) in Canberra and participated in the protests against its removal.[2]

In 1972 she was the first indigenous woman to stand for federal parliament, running unsuccessfully as an [independent](/source/Independent_politician) candidate for [Australian Capital Territory](/source/Division_of_Australian_Capital_Territory).[3][4]

She was the first non-matriculated mature-aged student to study at the [Australian National University](/source/Australian_National_University) in 1973, and graduated in 1977 with a [Bachelor of Arts](/source/Bachelor_of_Arts). In 1975 Eatock attended the *Alternative Tribune to the [International Women's Year World Conference](/source/World_Conference_on_Women,_1975)* in Mexico City.[2] From 1978 to 1981 she was a project officer in the Aboriginal Unit of the Department of Social Security, and she was also a lecturer at [Curtin University](/source/Curtin_University) (1991–92, community development) and [James Cook University](/source/James_Cook_University) (1997, Aboriginal studies).

From 1992 to 1996 she established and managed Perleeka Aboriginal Television.[5]

In 2011, Eatock was the lead litigant in a case against conservative columnist [Andrew Bolt](/source/Andrew_Bolt), in which she and others sued Bolt under the [Racial Discrimination Act](/source/Racial_Discrimination_Act_1975) (RDA) following a column alleging that fair-skinned indigenous Australians identified as Aboriginals for monetary gain. The court found for Eatock against Bolt, leading to widespread controversy and a campaign to amend the RDA.

Following an incident in 2012 Eatock became known as the “holder of the shoe” after then-Prime Minister [Julia Gillard](/source/Julia_Gillard) lost her shoe during a protest at the 40th anniversary of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra.[6][7]

## Personal life

Eatock died in 2015.[8]

## References

1. ["The Whitlam government gave us no-fault divorce, women's refuges and childcare. Australia needs another feminist revolution"](https://theconversation.com/the-whitlam-government-gave-us-no-fault-divorce-womens-refuges-and-childcare-australia-needs-another-feminist-revolution-202238). 28 March 2023.

1. National Foundation for Australian Women and The University of Melbourne. ["Eatock, Pat - Woman - The Australian Women's Register"](http://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/AWE1227b.htm). *www.womenaustralia.info*. Retrieved 18 July 2018.

1. ["A.C.T. CANDIDATES- 4"](http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article110622200). *Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995)*. 1972-11-25. p. 10. Retrieved 2018-07-18.

1. Eatock, Pat (1973), ["A small but stinging twig : reflections of a black campaigner"](https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/210594459), retrieved 18 July 2018

1. Jordens, Ann-Mari (20 March 2015). ["Eatock, Pat (1937-2015)"](http://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/AWE1227b.htm). *Australian Women's Register*. Australian Women's Archive.

1. ["Pat Eatock's fight lives on"](https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=055139092368745;res=IELHSS). *Green Left Weekly*. **1046**: 6. 24 Mar 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2018.

1. Johnston, Matt (2012-01-27). ["We'll sell Julia Gillard's shoe, says Aboriginal activists"](https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/national/well-sell-gillards-shoe-say-activists/). *Courier Mail*. Retrieved 2018-07-18.

1. ["Aunty Pat Eatock passes away quietly after a lifetime of glorious noise making"](https://newmatilda.com/2015/03/17/aunty-pat-eatock-passes-away-quietly-after-lifetime-glorious-noise-making/). *New Matilda*. 17 March 2015.

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Pat Eatock](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Eatock) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Eatock?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.