Bill Dodd, born in 1965, spent his childhood in Mitchell, Queensland and on cattle properties in the area. He left school shortly before completing year ten, after the sudden death of his stockman father. For a time he worked as a stockman near Mitchell and later on a remote cattle station in the Northern Territory.

Three days before his eighteenth birthday, Bill Dodd suffered a broken neck in a diving accident and became a quadriplegic. He spent almost six months in the spinal unit at Brisbane's Princess Alexandra Hospital, and afterwards was transferred to Westhaven Nursing Home in Roma, living there for six years. In Roma he worked as a clerical assistant in the office of the Community Youth Support Scheme.