By Helen Randerson, from Bulletin 1/2026 (March)
Heather Goodall was a historian, teacher, writer, activist, beloved wife, mother, grandmother and friend to many. She lived a life defined by intellect, integrity and deep compassion. A long-term resident of Glebe, she contributed scholarship and activism that resonated across Australia and beyond.
Heather was widely recognised as one of Australia’s most important historians of Aboriginal political struggle and history. She is perhaps best known as the author of Invasion to Embassy (1996), a landmark work that traced the history of Aboriginal politics in New South Wales from colonisation through to the establishment of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy. The book reshaped understanding of Indigenous resistance and political organisation.
Heather worked closely and respectfully with Aboriginal communities, building enduring relationships founded on trust and collaboration. She believed history should be accountable to those whose stories it told.
She worked at Tranby Aboriginal Cooperative College in Glebe and, later, in South Australia with the Pitjantjatjara Council. Her work included significant historical research to inform royal commissions, notably the Maralinga Royal Commission into British Nuclear Testing in Australia (1984–85) and the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (1990–91).
Heather leaves a profound legacy: in her writings, in the communities she supported, in the students she mentored, in the family she loved deeply and amongst her friends. She demonstrated that scholarship can serve justice, that listening is a form of leadership, and that a life of ideas can also be a life of care. She will be remembered with deep respect, love, affection and gratitude.
As a long-term academic at the University of Technology, Sydney, she served with distinction, eventually becoming Professor Emerita. She was an inspiring teacher and a generous mentor, known for encouraging young scholars to find their own voices.
Early in her career Heather volunteered at Elsie Women’s Refuge in Glebe. She was deeply engaged in women’s activism, contributing to feminist scholarship and advocacy at a time when women’s voices were often marginalised within universities and public life.
Her intellectual curiosity extended beyond Australia’s shores. She took a sustained interest in Australia’s relationships with Asia, including exploring environmental history and cross-cultural connections in the region. In later years, environmental concerns became increasingly central to her work and activism.
Goodall was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2024 for ‘significant service to tertiary education, particularly social science, and to the Indigenous community’.
For all her professional achievements, Heather was always there for her family and friends. Friends recall her home in Glebe as a place of lively discussion, shared meals and thoughtful hospitality.
Heather loved Glebe and lived there for over 50 years, originally in various share houses before settling in Hereford Street. She was writing a book about Radical Glebe (of the sixties and seventies) with two friends when she died.
Heather Goodall leaves behind a profound legacy: in her writings, in the communities she supported, in the students she mentored, in the family she loved deeply and amongst her friends. She demonstrated that scholarship can serve justice, that listening is a form of leadership, and that a life of ideas can also be a life of care. She will be remembered with deep respect, love, affection and gratitude.
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