# Robert Tickner

Robert Edward Tickner AO (born 24 December 1951) is a former Australian Labor Party cabinet minister. He was CEO of the Australian Red Cross from 2005 to 2015.

## Early life and education

Born in Sydney on (1951-12-24) 24 December 1951 (age 73), Robert Edward Tickner was adopted. He later searched for his birth mother after the birth of his own son.
After attending secondary school in Forster and Taree on the North Coast of New South Wales, he studied at the University of Sydney, graduating in law and economics.

## Early career

Prior to entering parliament, Tickner worked as a university lecturer at the NSW Institute of Technology from 1974 to 1979, then as principal solicitor for the NSW Aboriginal Legal Service from 1979 to 1984.
Tickner was one of the early and influential members of Friends of the Earth Australia in Sydney in 1975, being the lease owner of a three-storey terrace on Crown St, Surry Hills, which became the FoE Sydney bookshop and office. He was convenor of the FoE urban campaign which opposed the Sydney City Council's inappropriate high rise development.

## Political career

From 1977 to 1984 he was elected as a Labor councillor on the Sydney City Council,
He also served a brief time as acting lord mayor of Sydney in August to September 1983, in the absence of Lord Mayor Doug Sutherland and Deputy Lord Mayor Tony Bradford.
After failing to gain victory as ALP candidate for the 1981 Wentworth by-election (which was won by the Liberals' candidate Peter Coleman, former Leader of the NSW Opposition), Tickner was successful in entering the federal parliament at the 1984 Hughes by-election. Bob Hawke appointed Tickner, in 1990, the Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs; and he retained this post throughout Paul Keating's government.
Tickner's tenure in office was marred by the Hindmarsh Island bridge controversy. Partly due to this affair, and partly due to the increasing unpopularity of the Keating government as a whole, Tickner was resoundingly defeated in the 1996 election by Liberal challenger Danna Vale, suffering an 11-point swing against him. He was one of eight ministers in the Keating government to lose their seats.

## Other activities

Tickner served as chief executive of the Australian Red Cross from February 2005 to July 2015.
As of 2024 Tickner is co-chair of the EveryAGE Counts Steering Committee, and ambassador for International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) Australia.

### Justice Reform Initiative

Tickner is the founding chair of the Justice Reform Initiative, which campaigns against what it sees as the over-use of prisons in Australia. It is supported by the Paul Ramsay Foundation and has cross-party support, as well as many experienced and distinguished patrons. Its Co-Patrons in Chief are former governor generals of Australia Sir William Deane and Dame Quentin Bryce, and patrons include former High Court justice Virginia Bell; former NSW senator Peter Baume; Tim Costello; Olympian and Australian of the Year Robert de Castella; former Liberal MP and ultra-marathon athlete Pat Farmer; author Kate Grenville ; Jackie Huggins; former High Court justice Michael Kirby; playwright Suzie Miller; artist Ben Quilty; Aboriginal elder and activist Pat Turner; former Liberal Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt; and many others.

## Selected publications

* Tickner, Robert E. Taking a stand : land rights to reconciliation (2001) Allen & Unwin, N.S.W. ISBN 1865080519
* Tickner, Robert. Ten Doors Down: The Story of an Extraordinary Adoption Reunion (2020) Scribe Publications, ISBN 9781925849455