Labor's Pat Dodson, known as the 'father of reconciliation', to retire from Senate on Australia Day

Pat Dodson has been on leave from the Senate while he undergoes medical treatment. (ABC Kimberley: Erin Parke)

Labor senator Pat Dodson, known as the “father of reconciliation” after decades of advocacy for Indigenous people, will retire from federal politics on January 26.

The decision to quit on Australia Day comes after an extended period of medical leave from the Senate.

The senator came to prominence as a commissioner on the Royal Commission into Indigenous Deaths in Custody, and as a lifelong champion for Indigenous rights.

Senator Dodson, a Yawuru man, was first appointed to the Senate to represent Western Australia in 2016, and became a key figure in designing the proposed Voice to Parliament.

He’s been the government’s special envoy for reconciliation and the implementation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

Senator Dodson was labelled the “father of reconciliation” while serving on the Council of Aboriginal Reconciliation in the 1990s, recognising his activism seeking Indigenous justice. He has said that label caused him to be a “bit embarrassed”, because of the many people he said deserved it before him.

Senator Dodson was an iconic figure in the halls of parliament, rarely seen outside the chamber without his black akubra hat, tied with a ribbon in the colours of the Aboriginal flag.

Senator Dodson has recently been treated for cancer, and said while his health was improving, he was “physically unable to fulfil satisfactorily (his) duties as a Senator”.

He made a rare public appearance during the final days of the Voice to Parliament referendum, speaking at the National Press Club but without his famous long, grey beard.

Senator Dodson travelled to Canberra and announced his retirement plants to his colleagues at a Labor caucus meeting in the capital.

He said it had been an honour to serve in the Senate.

“Senator Patrick Dodson’s plan to retire from the Senate fills me with sadness – but also with gratitude,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement.

“You would gladly follow him into battle yet he’s made it his life’s work to make peace. From the moment he entered Parliament, he has made this place a better one.”