About the speakers

Adam Goodes

Adam Goodes is a proud Adnyamathanha man, known for his leadership within the Indigenous community. In 2009, Adam set up The Goodes-O’Loughlin Foundation (GO Foundation) with former Sydney Swans teammate Michael O’Loughlin. The GO Foundation’s vision is to create a brighter future for Indigenous children through education.  

In 2014, Adam was named the Australian of the Year. This distinguished award recognised Adam’s community work and advocacy in the fight against racism, empowering the next generation of Indigenous Australians. 

In 2016, Adam co-founded the Indigenous Defence and Infrastructure Consortium (iDiC) that provides education, skill training and employment opportunities for Indigenous Australians to support large defence and infrastructure projects. 

He is a dual AFL Brownlow Medallist and premiership player for the Sydney Swans, four-time All-Australian, member of the Indigenous Team of the Century and representative in the International Rules Series.  Adam Goodes holds an elite place in Australian Football League’s history. He announced his retirement from AFL in September 2015, leaving the field as the Swans’ games record holder on 372, and one of the most decorated players of all time.  

Adam’s work within the corporate world extends to advising large organisations such as David Jones, Woolworths and Qantas, on their Reconciliation Action Plans (RAP). He is also currently an ambassador for many prominent brands including Toyota, David Jones, Qantas and Woolworths.

Dr Baden Pailthorpe

Dr Baden Pailthorpe is a contemporary artist who works with emerging and experimental technologies. Since 2019, he has worked as a Senior Lecturer at the Australian National University School of Art & Design, Canberra, where he teaches across design, photography and media arts.  His artistic practice examines the relationship between technology and power in domains such as sport, finance and the military. Baden is represented by Sullivan+Strumpf, one of Australia’s foremost commercial art galleries. 

Baden has held over 100 exhibitions internationally since 2011, including world-renowned museums such as the Centre Pompidou, Paris. He has received numerous grants, awards and prizes, including five Australia Council for the Arts grants, alongside artist residencies with the Australian War Memorial, Cite Internationales des Arts, Paris, and teamLab, Tokyo.   

Baden’s work is also held in significant private and public collections, including the Australian Parliament House Art Collection, Canberra; The Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide; The Australian War Memorial, Canberra; and ACMI, Melbourne.  

In 2017, Baden was the first artist to work with biometric player data from the AFL, leading in part to the collaborative Tracker Data Project, which revealed the cultural significance of Adam Goodes’ AFL data.  

Baden and Adam have known each other for over 10 years, and they have worked collaboratively since 2017.

About the Fritz Duras Memorial Lecture 

The Fritz Duras Memorial Lecture commemorates Dr Fritz Duras’ significant contributions to Health and Physical Education. Dr Duras was a pioneer in the field, having established the first Australian university course in Physical Education. Dr Duras was the founding President of the Australian Physical Education Association – which evolved into ACHPER (Australian Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation).