1980 - present

Adam Roy Goodes was born on January 8, 1980, in Wallaroo, South Australia. His father Graham is of English, Irish and Scottish ancestry, and his mother Lisa May is an Aboriginal Australian. Goodes’ parents separated when he was six, and he moved around South Australia and Victoria with his mother and two younger brothers during his childhood.

Goodes began playing Australian rules football in primary school and represented Victoria at under-16 and under-18 levels. In 1997, he was drafted by the Sydney Swans into the Australian Football League (AFL) as a 17-year-old. Goodes made his debut in 1999 and went on to win the AFL Rising Star award that year as the best young player.

In 2003, Goodes had a break out year for the Swans and was awarded both the AFL Brownlow Medal along with Bob Skilton Medal as the Swans’ best and fairest.

The 2005 season saw the Swans claim their first AFL premiership, while Goodes was selected among the AFL’s Indigenous Team of the Century. In 2006, although the Swans fell agonisingly short of securing a second title, losing the grand final by just one point, Goodes was again awarded the AFL’s Brownlow Medal. Joining a small group of players who have received the games’ top honor twice, along with the Swans’ Bob Skilton Medal.

Goodes was appointed the Swans’ co-captain between 2009 and 2012, leading the team to their second AFL Premiership in 2012. He received his third Bob Skilton Medal in 2011.

In 2013, during the AFL’s annual Indigenous Round, a 13-year-old supporter racially vilified Goodes and was subsequently escorted out of the stadium by security.  Although deeply hurt, Goodes called on the community to support her, and instead blamed the environment she grew up in.

Over the following years, Goodes was subjected to loud booing by opposition supporters at most matches, which led to him taking leave from the game during the 2015 season. After an outpouring of support from fellow players, fans, celebrities and politicians, Goodes played out the remainder of the season before calling time on his career and retiring as the Swans’ most decorated player with 372 games. The ‘booing saga’ sparked a national debate about racism in Australia and became the subject of two documentaries, The Final Quarter and The Australian Dream, both released in 2019.

In 2019, Goodes was inducted into the Sydney Swans Hall of Fame and immediately elevated to the Bloods Legend status. Although Goodes was nominated for induction into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2021, he declined the honour citing AFL’s lack of support in response to the racial abuse he had endured playing the sport.

Goodes remains active in Sydney’s Indigenous community and corporate world as CEO of iDiC. The GO Foundation, which was established by Goodes and his cousin and former Swans teammate Michael O’Loughlin in 2009, provides secondary school scholarships to Indigenous students. In 2014, Goodes was named the Australian of the Year for his community work and advocacy in the fight against racism, and empowering the next generation of Indigenous Australians.

Courtesy Adam Goodes and The GO Foundation.