Professor Pat Dudgeon is a Bardi woman whose people are from the Kimberley. Since 2009 she has been a researcher in the Poche Centre for Indigenous Health under the School of Indigenous Studies at the University of Western Australia (UWA). Her research is concerned with community engagement, consultation, and responsiveness, and draws upon multi-disciplinary approaches. Her large, national integrated projects map social phenomena and seek to implement transformative methods and practices focused on Indigenous health and wellbeing. 

Foremost in Professor Dudgeon’s list of achievements is the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Evaluation Project (ATSISPEP), funded by the Australian government. This ground-breaking evaluation clearly identified the key elements for best practice suicide prevention programs and strategies, and the central importance of Indigenous leadership at all levels of delivery.