Paul Coe, a prominent Wiradjuri lawyer and activist who played a key role in the Aboriginal land rights movement, has died at the age of 76. Coe was instrumental in establishing the first Aboriginal Legal Service and was a leading figure in the fight for Indigenous justice in Australia.
Born in 1949 at Erambie Mission in Cowra, New South Wales, Coe faced strict discriminatory laws. He became the first Aboriginal student at Cowra High School to pass the Higher School Certificate and be elected prefect, later studying law at the University of New South Wales as one of the first Aboriginal law students.
During the 1960s and 1970s, Coe was central to the Australian Black Power movement in Redfern, Sydney. He helped create a database documenting racist police actions and advocated through protests and legal channels, leading to the formation of the NSW Aboriginal Legal Service.
Coe was also involved in the state's first Aboriginal Land Council and supported the Gurindji people's Wave Hill walk-off. In 1979, he launched a high court case seeking recognition of Aboriginal prior inhabitation, which, though unsuccessful, laid groundwork for the 1992 Mabo decision that overturned terra nullius.
NSW Aboriginal Land Council chairperson Raymond Kelly called Coe an “incredible fighter” who “changed the lives of Aboriginal people across the nation”. His family described him as a “Wiradjuri warrior” dedicated to upholding his people's ways.
