Author, Campaigner.

Robert Tickner grew up and attended high school in Forster and Taree on the north coast of NSW before attending the University of Sydney and graduating in law and economics. He initially worked as a lecturer at the NSW Institute of Technology (later UTS) from 1974 to 1979, then as principal solicitor for the NSW Aboriginal Legal Service from 1979 to 1984 when he was elected as a member of the House of Representatives. 

From 1977 to 1984 he also served as a Labor Councillor on the Sydney City Council, including a brief time as Acting Lord Mayor.

Robert entered the federal parliament in the Hughes by-election in February 1984. He was elected to chair the Public Accounts Committee of the Parliament in 1988 and managed to achieve unanimous agreement across party lines for all Committee reports including the landmark 1989 report: “The Auditor-General, ally of the people and Parliament: reform of the Australian Audit Office.”

He subsequently served as Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs in both the Hawke and Keating Governments from 1990-1996 and is Australia’s longest serving Minister in that portfolio.

During his time as Minister he initiated the process of reconciliation, championed the creation of the national land fund and fought for a just Native Title Act. He was also responsible for the initiation of the Stolen Generations Inquiry, with the support of then Attorney-General Michael Lavarch. 

For over a decade he was also Chair of the Australian Parliamentary Group of Amnesty International working collaboratively with parliamentarians from all political parties to achieve cross party support for the work of Amnesty. 

Following his defeat in the electorate of Hughes in the 1996 election, Robert was appointed CEO of Job Futures Ltd, a national network of community based employment service providers. He was then the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Red Cross from February 2005 to July 2015. He also twice served as Under Secretary General of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Federation based in Geneva returning to Australia from the second secondment in 2016.

Robert is currently co-chair of EveryAGE Counts, a coalition-led campaign tackling ageism in Australia. 

Robert is an Ambassador for ICAN in Australia and a campaigner for the new International Convention on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and for the Australian government to sign and ratify this convention.

Robert is also the Chair of the Justice Reform Initiative, a national campaign to shift the public conversation in Australia away from prisons as the primary response of the criminal justice system to evidence based alternatives. These alternatives reduce recidivism, introduce innovative responses which also benefit victims of crime and make our communities safer.