AUSTRALIAN of the Year and dual Brownlow medallist Adam Goodes has long been a passionate – and at times outspoken – advocate for the indigenous community, not just in football, but Australia wide.

And in an interview in this week's AFL Record, he explains why.

Goodes' mother Lisa Sansbury is a member of the Stolen Generation and, as a child, Goodes and his family moved around Australia regularly before finally settling in Horsham, in western Victoria.

"Mum didn't have the best upbringing. The reason why was because her Mum wasn't looking after her own kids properly and that's what drove her to seek a better way of life and to make sure the government didn't then take her kids away.

"So that's why she sacrificed everything so that we could be the best we could possibly be," he said.

Goodes and his family have undertaken a journey of discovery, one that will feature on the SBS television series Who Do You Think You Are later this year.

"It's been a slow process for Mum to heal and she is still taking steps down that path," he said.
Sansbury told the AFL Record that Goodes has never forgotten who he is and where he is from.

"Adam saw my struggles as an indigenous woman and that I was petrified that anyone would ever take away my own children, and I think that helped shape how proud he became of his own heritage," she said.

"I thought he handled that (racist fan abuse) episode at the MCG last year very, very well. The way he reacted and turned the tables by saying it was the young girl who needed our help – that's Adam all over," she said.

She forecast a future in either politics or the media for Goodes when he retires from football, but irrespective of what career path he chooses, she believes he will always remain a leading advocate for Australia's indigenous community.

Read the full interview with Adam Goodes and Lisa Sansbury in this week's AFL Record, available at all grounds.