When Dr Colin Dillon AM APM entered the Queensland Police Force in 1965, he became Australia’s first Indigenous police officer. This was two years before the 1967 referendum introducing the counting of Aboriginal people in the nation’s census, and a decade before ratification of the Racial Discrimination Act.
In 1987, Colin showed courage as the first serving police officer to voluntarily step forward and give first-hand knowledge under oath before the Fitzgerald Inquiry into Police Corruption. His evidence was instrumental in sending many corrupt officers, including the police commissioner, and several politicians to prison.
Colin has been awarded the Australian Police Medal and received an honorary doctorate from the Queensland University of Technology. In 2013, Colin was made a Member of the Order of Australia for his services to the Indigenous community.
Since retiring from the police force, Colin served as Chairman of Indigenous radio station, 98.9FM, and as a former Director of the Queensland Heart Foundation. Currently, he’s community member on the Parole Board of Queensland.