AFL great Adam Goodes and his fellow sporting stars are planning to rally support for the "yes" case in the upcoming referendum on the Uluru Statement.
He is part of growing momentum within the community of professional athletes to influence public debate outside the confines of sport.
Goodes has largely avoided the limelight in recent years to focus on his work as CEO for IDIC, a company which helps Indigenous-operated small and medium businesses win government contracts.
But the 42-year-old is committed to doing what he can to support the "yes" campaign in the coming referendum, an outcome he has been working towards since his days as Australian of the Year.
"We need to start creating that awareness in our workplaces, at our family barbecues, in our schools, in our communities, on TV," he says.
"It really is going to be a numbers game."
Goodes retired from the AFL in 2015 following racist abuse from fans, and the following year AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan apologised to Goodes for the organisation's failure to respond more quickly.
The code remains troubled by allegations of racism, and Goodes is aware of the resistance in some parts of the broader community to First Nations rights and recognition.
But he says he has been working behind the scenes in his post-playing career to advance the cause.
"Unfortunately whenever you have a voice, you're always picking and creating the side you're on," he told ABC's 7.30 program.
"For me, just because you haven't seen me like we are today having a conversation with a camera watching, that [doesn't mean] I've stopped having conversations.
"I've never stopped since I've retired seven years ago. [I'm] just choosing a different platform to have those conversations."
Organised athletes
Goodes is an adviser to a new agency backed by sports marketing giant Octagon called No2ndPlace, which has just commissioned research underlining the potential power of the athlete's voice.
Two-thirds of avid sports fans can recall a time when sport made them think differently about social issues, according to a 2,000-person survey by Dynata carried out in September.
No2ndPlace managing director Ben Hartman said: "This notion, 'Get sports and politics away from each other,' ... it's rubbish."
According to the survey, when people were made to think differently on an issue by sport, almost one-third of respondents changed their own behaviour and more than a third sought further information to educate themselves.
"We're sitting here on this sleeping giant, as we call it," Hartman said.
The agency provides advice to corporate clients about sporting sponsorships, and is looking to assist these companies to take part in social campaigns.
Goodes anticipates there will be overlap between his advocacy and the work of the agency around the referendum.
"For me it's about how are we using the media, how are we using sporting teams, how are we using our environment to create awareness, create stories, but more importantly to help people understand what it is we're asking them to do, what are we asking you to vote yes on, and how is that going to change the lives of Indigenous people," he said.
Working towards better debate
Paralympic gold winner Madison de Rozario is another adviser to the agency alongside Goodes and former Socceroo Craig Foster, and is the only one who is still an athlete.
The 28-year-old has become an advocate for gender equality and people with a disability, and is aware of the potential backlash when athletes speak out.
"It's so stressful, and I know we say, 'You can't please everyone,' … but it definitely takes its toll hearing it come back," she said.
The agency's research suggests the public is split about the extent to which sport should be used for political messages.
One-third of respondents agreed that choreographed actions that were designed to highlight a specific cause, such as taking a knee before a game, had no place in sport. The same amount disagreed, while another third was neutral on the matter.
De Rozario believes athletes should not be expected to have an opinion on every issue, but should be respected when they do.
"I don't think being good at sport demands you to then have strong stances on every single issue that comes across your desk," she said.
"I feel it's the other way around. Rather than we can't force athletes to speak on issues, when athletes do speak on issues because of their platform, we need to support that and accept that and provide the space to have those conversations."
Sponsorship implications
Australian Sports Commission CEO and former elite swimmer Kieren Perkins said athletes' power was "very significant" but — as seen in recent cases in cricket and netball — sensitivity was needed on all sides when there was opposition to sponsors from within a sport.
"I absolutely am supportive of athletes having their voice, and I'm absolutely supportive of sponsorship in all its forms, being involved in Australian sport at all levels," he said.
"What I think at the moment is missing is that there isn't this mutual respect and transparency around what it means, what's required and how we go forward."
He would like administrators and athletes to work more closely so all parties can better understand the commercial realities of sport.
But Perkins also wants commentators to take responsibility for their influence — for example in the barrage of reporting around Hancock Prospecting and its decision to cancel a $15 million sponsorship of Netball Australia — which he believes can be more negative than positive.
"There has been an enormous number of people in this country who have made very loud, very vocal, very public views and opinions about this circumstance that has significantly contributed to the outcome of the circumstance with impunity, without any responsibility and with a very, very high level of ignorance about the reality of what the sport is, needs and how it operates today," he said.
An equivalent sponsorship opportunity with Netball Australia was ultimately taken up by the Victorian government.
Perkins, through the Sports Commission, distributes more than $100 million in taxpayer funding each year to national sporting organisations.
He believes more people must be aware of the need for funding —from the top of the sporting pyramid, right down to young participants and clubhouse volunteers.
"Not only do athletes have a responsibility to represent their sport and represent the sponsors of that sport appropriately, they have a responsibility to ensure that there are the commercial obligations and outcomes that can be delivered by sport so that junior development, athlete pathways, coach development — all of the things that they benefited from that allowed them to be the elite members of their sport today — can be strengthened and continue to grow and continue to develop," he said.
"But that recognition and that relationship is not one way. It has to be two-way. And all sides of the dialogue need to be open and involved."
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