35 Facts About Tom Calma

Tom Calma was the sixth chancellor of the University of Canberra, after two years as deputy chancellor.

Tom Calma was the second Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person to hold the position of chancellor of any Australian university.

Tom Calma has been involved in Indigenous affairs at a local, community, state, national and international level and worked in the public sector focusing on rural and remote Australia, health, mental health and suicide prevention, education, justice reinvestment, research, reconciliation and economic development.

Tom Calma served as the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner from 2004 to 2010 and as Race Discrimination Commissioner from 2004 until 2009 at the Australian Human Rights Commission.

On 30 October 2019, Tom Calma was announced as a co-chair on the Senior Advisory Group of the "Indigenous voice to government", convened by Ken Wyatt.

Tom Calma is an elder of the Kungarakan people and member of the Iwaidja people, whose traditional lands are south-west of Darwin and on the Cobourg Peninsula in the Northern Territory.

Between 1995 and 2002 Tom Calma represented Australia's education and training interests as a senior diplomat in India and Vietnam; in 2003, he served as senior adviser for Indigenous Affairs to Philip Ruddock, then Minister of Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs.

Tom Calma has been co-chair of Reconciliation Australia since before 2005.

Tom Calma served as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner at the Australian Human Rights Commission from 2004 to 2010 and as the Race Discrimination Commissioner from 2004 until 2009.

Tom Calma founded the Close the Gap Steering Committee for Indigenous Health Equality in 2006 and was its inaugural chairperson.

Tom Calma retired as co-chair of the steering committee in 2010.

In 2008, Tom Calma delivered the formal response to the government's National Apology to the Stolen Generations and since 2009 has been involved with the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation and he currently holds the post of co-chair.

Since March 2010 Tom Calma has been the Federal Government-appointed National Coordinator, Tackling Indigenous Smoking.

Tom Calma was instrumental in the establishment of the National Congress of Australia's First Peoples, the development of the inaugural National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Strategy, and the promotion of Justice Reinvestment.

Tom Calma was one of the first proponents of "justice reinvestment" in Australia, introducing the concept in the Social Justice Report 2009.

Tom Calma joined the University of Canberra Council on 21 October 2008 and on 1 January 2012 he was appointed Deputy Chancellor of the University of Canberra.

Tom Calma took up his appointment as Chancellor of the University of Canberra on 1 January 2014, and was installed at a ceremony held at the National Press Club on 20 February 2014.

Tom Calma is the first Indigenous male to hold the position of Chancellor of an Australian university.

Tom Calma was appointed Professor with the University of Sydney's Medical School to chair the Poche Indigenous Health Network on 1 January 2015.

On 30 October 2019, Tom Calma was announced as a co-chair on the Senior Advisory Group of the "Indigenous voice to government", convened by Ken Wyatt, along with by Professor Marcia Langton.

Tom Calma took a year's leave of absence from the role of co-chair of Reconciliation Australia in order to undertake his new role.

In 2012, Tom Calma was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to the Indigenous community as an advocate for human rights and social justice, through contributions to government policy and reform, and to cross cultural understanding.

On 20 May 2010, Tom Calma was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Letters from Charles Darwin University in recognition of decades of public service, particularly in relation to his work in education, training and employment in Indigenous communities.

On 15 February 2011, Tom Calma was awarded an honorary doctorate of science from Curtin University in recognition of his work, advocacy and leadership in Indigenous health reform and Indigenous affairs.

On 16 April 2014, Tom Calma was awarded an honorary doctorate from Flinders University in recognition of his work, advocacy and leadership in Indigenous health reform.

In November 2014, Tom Calma was awarded the Indigenous Allied Health Australia Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his lifelong dedication to improving the lives of Indigenous Australians and in 2017 was appointed their inaugural Patron.

In 2007 Tom Calma was named by The Bulletin magazine as the Most Influential Indigenous Person in Australia; in 2008 he was named GQ magazine's 2008 Man of Inspiration for his work in Indigenous Affairs.

Tom Calma was named by Australian Doctor Magazine in 2010 as one of the 50 Most Influential People in medicine in Australia.

In May 2012 Dr Tom Calma was appointed an Adjunct Associate Professor at the National Centre for Indigenous Studies at ANU.

In October 2015, Tom Calma was awarded one of four inaugural University of South Australia Alumni Awards for his service to society and in November 2015 was awarded the Public Health Association Australia's Sidney Sax Public Health Medal for notable contribution to the protection and promotion of public health, advancing community awareness of public health measures and advancing the ideals and practice of equity in the provision of health care.

On 1 July 2016, Tom Calma received the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial Flag Award on the 240th anniversary of the United States of America's independence.

In October 2016, Tom Calma was appointed the inaugural chair of the Atlantic Fellows for Social Equity program led by the University of Melbourne and in January 2017 he was appointed an adjunct professor with the University of Queensland.

In May 2017 Tom Calma was one of three Indigenous Australians, along with Lowitja O'Donoghue and Galarrwuy Yunupingu, honoured by Australia Post in the 2017 Legends Commemorative Stamp "Indigenous leaders" series to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1967 referendum.

In May 2018 Tom Calma was inducted into the ACT Honour Walk 2018, while in May 2022 he was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science.

Tom Calma was elected Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia in November 2022.