Football
6 April, 2026
Goodes to inspire Indigenous education
Horsham football export Adam Goodes is on a mission – another mission, that is, building on his already-impressive body of advocacy work both within and on behalf of Indigenous society.
Goodes is now officially Adelaide University's inaugural First Nations ambassador.
The university announced on Friday that the dual Brownlow medallist – a proud Adnyamathanha/Narrunga man on the maternal side of his family – had accepted the groundbreaking role, which it described as "pioneering".
Born in Wallaroo, South Australia, Goodes moved in his early years with his mother Lisa May Sansbury and two younger brothers, Jake and Brett, between his birthplace, Adelaide and Merbein in Sunraysia.
After they finally settled in Horsham, Goodes played football at secondary school and for the Horsham Demons, represented Victoria at the under-16 and under-18 levels, and as a 16-year-old was recruited by the North Ballarat Rebels in the statewide TAC Cup.
In the 1997 AFL draft, Goodes, then aged 17, was selected by Sydney, and the following season he joined his cousin Michael 'Magic' O'Loughlin and another Indigenous youngster, Troy Cook, at the Swans.
Between making his senior debut in 1999 and retiring in 2015, he set a league record for games by an Indigenous player, notching up 372 as a versatile ruckman who, after suffering a series of knee injuries, made himself at home in the backline and then in the midfield.
A one-club player and life member, he finished his AFL playing days with a career tally of 464 goals and two premierships for the Sydney Swans, in 2005 and 2012.
He tied for the Brownlow Medal in 2003 and won it outright in 2006, earned the Bob Skilton Medal as the Swans' best and fairest in 2003, 2006 and 2011, and was a four-time All Australian.
In 2005, Goodes was named at centre half-back in the Australian rules Indigenous team of the century.
As his time on the field was drawing to a close, Goodes was the Australia Day 2014 Australian of the Year.
Goodes was both called out by spectators for what he described as racial vilification and was himself accused of holding a racist view after he wrote about marngrook in the 2008 book 'The Australian Game of Football Since 1858', commenting that he believed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were "born to play" football.
When he turned down an invitation to be inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame in 2021, the AFL issued a public apology to Goodes for what it termed its failure to support him adequately against abuse.
In 2016, he established the Indigenous Defence & Infrastructure Consortium (iDiC) to increase participation by Indigenous businesses in major construction, defence and infrastructure projects.
The following year, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Sydney for his contribution to society.
In 2020, Vincent Namatjira became the first Indigenous winner in the Archibald Prize's almost-100-year history courtesy of his portrait of Goodes.
Goodes continued his community leadership as patron of Indigenous Football Week in 2020 and by openly calling for a 'Yes' vote in the 2023 Indigenous Voice referendum.
For more than a decade, he has been involved in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education.
Goodes and O'Loughlin were founders of the GO Foundation in New South Wales, which continues to deliver community programs for the Indigenous population and, since 2014 has expanded into formal education by providing scholarships to primary and secondary schools and universities.
In his new role with Adelaide University, Goodes is responsible for "amplifying voices, inspiring students and helping ensure the institution grows in ways that reflect First Nations knowledge, culture and aspirations".
“Throughout my life, I’ve experienced a lot of firsts,” Goodes said on Friday.
“I was part of the first generation born off Point Pearce Mission (in the Yorke Peninsula of SA, where Sansbury was a member of the Stolen Generation taken from her Aboriginal parents), the first in my immediate family to finish high school and the first to buy a home."
Goodes said education had "always been at the heart of those firsts".
“My people did not always have access to education, so as someone who has benefited from it, I look forward to giving back to my brothers and sisters in South Australia and, most importantly, to those who are choosing education and Adelaide University as a way forward in their lives."
His message to Indigenous students is one of empowerment: "You don't have to wait for others to be the first – you can step forward and be that first yourself.”
* Goodes, 46, is now the father of three children – Adelaide, Otis and Leroy – with his wife Natalie Croker.
He still lives in Sydney and is the CEO of iDiC and a director (alongside O'Loughlin) of the GO Foundation.
His mother died of heart failure in February 2022, aged 62.