National NAIDOC 2004 Award Winners

Aden Ridgeway - Person of the Year (Male)

Aden Ridgeway comes from Macksville in northern NSW and is from the Gumgayngirr people.

Aden spent 14 years in the NSW Public Service working his way from park ranger through policy positions to management.

During this time, he served on the Sydney ATSIC Regional Council for its first two terms.

For five years, he was Executive Director of the NSW Aboriginal Land Council and responsible for its head office, regional offices and the 118 Local Aboriginal Land Councils throughout the State. During this time, he was responsible for implementing broad-based structural and management reforms. He was a member of both Indigenous Native Title negotiating teams following the Mabo and Wik decisions and was a member of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation for its last two years.

Aden joined the Australian Democrats in 1990 and was elected as a Democrat Senator for NSW in October 1998. He entered the Senate as Australia’s only Indigenous Federal politician in July 1999.

He was Australian Democrats’ Deputy Leader from April 2001 until October 2002- the nation’s first Indigenous politician to hold a Federal political leadership position.

Aden is the Chairman of Bangarra Aboriginal Dance Company and a board member of the Tikkun Australian Foundation, the Lumbu Indigenous Community Foundation and a trustee of the Charlie Perkins Children’s Trust.

Aden is the married and is the proud father of two sons, Jay and Liam and daughter, Sancia.

Aden throughout his career has worked to make a difference for Indigenous Australians. As Senator, he is voicing the needs and the issues Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people face in a political landscape where to often Indigenous people are forgotten. Aden reminds the government and the nation of the need to improve the health and living standards of Aboriginal people, the importance of cultural preservation and continuance and recently Aden voiced his opposition to the abolition of ATSIC.