2026 Lowitja O'Donoghue Oration

19th Annual Lowitja O’Donoghue Oration

Professor Larissa Behrendt: Strength with Grace

Wednesday, 3 June 2026 6:30pm-8:00pm Elder Hall, Adelaide, Kaurna Country.
Doors will open at 6pm

The Don Dunstan Foundation invites you to the 19th Annual Lowitja O’Donoghue Oration. This event, held annually during Reconciliation Week, is dedicated to the memory and legacy of Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue.

This year, Professor Larissa Behrendt AO joins us to discuss a concept that feels more urgent than ever: Strength with Grace: Bringing the Nation Together.

Public debate is currently stuck. It is often framed through division and bitterness. But Professor Behrendt argues that First Nations women have long practiced a different kind of leadership. It is a style that is strategic, steady, and focused on connection. Drawing on Dr O’Donoghue’s own belief that justice is not about guilt, this address looks at how cultural authority and collective responsibility can lead to national maturity.

This oration is a call for Australians to come together through truth and courage rather than silence or denial.

Professor Behrendt, a Eualeyai/Gamilaraay woman, is Distinguished Professor and the Laureate Fellow at the Jumbunna Institute at the University of Technology Sydney. As well as being a widely published scholar, she is an award-winning author, filmmaker, and broadcaster. She hosts Speaking Out on ABC radio. Professor Behrendt's leadership extends across the arts and heritage sectors: she is the Chair of the National Library of Australia, Chair of Writing Australia, and a board member of Creative Australia.

The Lowitja O’Donoghue Oration began in 2007, hosted by the Don Dunstan Foundation in recognition of the mutual respect between Dr O’Donoghue and Don Dunstan.

Please join an evening of honest reflection and a look at how we can share responsibility for the future.