1959 - present

Uncle Lloyd Walker is a Dharawal and Dhurga man belonging to the La Perouse Aboriginal community in Coastal Sydney. He is a respected Elder within his community and a revered rugby player.

Lloyd grew up on La Perouse Aboriginal Mission, where he discovered a love for sports playing rugby league with La Perouse and Matraville. He was also an accomplished sailor, representing NSW at many National Regattas as a teenager. Lloyd’s talent as a footballer became evident in high school where he captained the Matraville High School rugby union team to two victories in the Waratah Shield, a NSW state-wide rugby championship, in 1976 and 1977. He went on to play NSW Schoolboys rugby, before joining the Randwick District Rugby Union Football Club, also known as the Galloping Greens. Lloyd played over 250 first-grade games for Randwick between 1981 and 1994 and won 10 grand finals.

It wasn’t until 1985 that Lloyd made his debut with the NSW Waratahs, against the Queensland Reds at Ballymore. Lloyd was 29 when selected to make his debut with the Wallabies against New Zealand in Brisbane in 1988. Lloyd went on to play eight Tests for Australia from 1988 to 1994 and later played club rugby in Ireland and France.

Throughout his playing career, Lloyd was esteemed by rugby purists as “a joy to watch”, displaying his extraordinary ball-handling skills, unique sense of timing and space and inherent creative playing abilities.

After holding assistant coaching roles with the Wallabies and in Japan, Lloyd became a member of the NSW Parole Board. As a result of his professionalism and commitment to reducing Indigenous incarceration rates, Lloyd now holds the position of the parole authority’s longest serving member.

Lloyd is also Deputy Chair of the La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council, where he volunteers his time to work towards creating a better future for his community.

Courtesy the Gujaga Foundation.