2023 — 4 speeches
Craig Foster AM
Craig Foster is a former Socceroo, a respected broadcaster, a social justice advocate and a human rights campaigner.
Craig represented Australia in football on 29 occasions, and was the 40th captain of the national team. Following his retirement, Craig moved into broadcasting, and quickly became one of Australia’s most respected sports broadcasters, with an 18-year triple Logie-winning career with Australia’s multicultural broadcaster, SBS.
Beyond football, Craig has been a fierce advocate for human rights, working on campaigns including #SaveHakeem, #GameOver and #RacismNotWelcome. He is a member of the Australian Multicultural Council under the Department of Home Affairs, an ambassador for Amnesty Australia, a member of the Affinity Intercultural Foundation advisory board, and an ambassador for Sydney’s Addison Road Community Centre.
Craig’s list of awards and recognitions is long, and they include being recognised by the Australian Financial Review as a ‘True Australian Leader’ in 2019, being named Australian Father of the Year in 2022 for human rights and humanitarian work that has affected kids from many different cultural backgrounds, and being named the NSW Australian of the Year for 2023.
Today, Craig advises on athlete activism for some of Australia’s most prominent sportspeople and is an Adjunct Professor of Sport and Social Responsibility with Torrens University.