5-12 July 2026
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Dr. Stephen Hagan

National NAIDOC Male Elder Award Category
Stephen Hagan, Male Elder Award finalist

Dr Stephen Hagan, a proud Kullilli/Kooma man from far south-west Queensland, raised in a fringe camp, is a former diplomat, senior public servant, academic, entrepreneur, award-winning author and filmmaker. 

He is a dedicated family man – married to Rhonda, with two adult children, Stephen Jnr and Jayde – and has led an influential life as a social justice advocate. 

His campaigns resulted in rebranding Coon Cheese, the removal of the N-word from a sports ground sign in Toowoomba, the removal of derogatory words, Abo, Boong and Coon from Mattel’s Scrabble board game, a successful racial profiling case against Coles Express Service station, and racial discrimination cases against SKY TV Outsiders, Channel 9 Today Show, Daily Mail and Krispy Kreme. 

He influenced changes nationally to offensive public names. He authored seven published books and is currently writing a book of poems and a musical for his latest book, Acacia: 6 Eyes on Yesterday.

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