Arabic version: بات ميلر ستُمنح جنازة رسمية في الإقليم الشمالي

According to ABC News, Northern Territory advocate Patricia Ann Miller AO will receive a state funeral, recognising a life spent fighting racial discrimination and advancing access to justice for Aboriginal Territorians. Her son, Allan Miller, said the offer was a fitting acknowledgement of her legacy and described an overwhelming outpouring of well wishes following her death.

Dr Miller, a respected Arrernte elder, was born in 1946 to Milton and Polly Liddle. She grew up on Angas Downs Station, about 300 kilometres south-west of Alice Springs, and later built a career in one of the Territory’s largest legal organisations.

She joined the Central Australian Aboriginal Legal Aid Service in 1978 as a filing clerk and typist. By 1982, she had become director, holding the role for more than 30 years. The organisation is now known as the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency.

Her honours included the NAIDOC Aboriginal of the Year Award in 1995 and Northern Territory Australian of the Year in 2004. In 2002, she became the first Indigenous deputy to the administrator of the Northern Territory.

Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro called Dr Miller an “extraordinary Territorian” whose contribution had been “profound and enduring”. NT Administrator David Connolly said she made history as the first Indigenous woman appointed deputy of the administrator and served Central Australia with compassion and integrity.