Bio

Thomas Mayo is a Kaurareg Aboriginal and Kalkalgal, Erubamle Torres Strait Islander author who was born and raised in Darwin.

After working on the wharves in Darwin and Sydney, he took on leadership roles within the Maritime Union of Australia. Thomas Mayo was elected as an Assistant National Secretary in 2023.

As a signatory to the Uluru Statement from the Heart in 2017, he has been instrumental in driving the national campaign for Constitutional Recognition of Australia’s First Nations peoples ever since.

Thomas Mayo's books discuss First Nations people’s struggle for justice, recognition and equity.

In 2024, ‘The Voice to Parliament Handbook’, written by Thomas Mayo and Kerry O'Brien, was named the Book of the Year as well as Social Impact Book of the Year and Non-Fiction Book of the Year of the Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIAs).

Bio

Advocate

Leadership roles

board director at Australians for Indigenous Constitutional Recognition
board member at the Diversity Council of Australia
assistant National Secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia since 2023
executive member at the NorthernTerritory Trades and Labour Council
chairperson of the Northern Territory Indigenous Labor Network
board director at the Indigenous Literacy Foundation since January 2024
steering group member for the First Nations Clean Energy Network

Author

Books written by Thomas Mayo

Finding the Heart of the Nation, Hardie Grant Books, 2019
Finding Our Heart (childrens book), Hardie Grant Books, 2020
Freedom Day (childrens book), Bright Light Books, 2021
Dear Son, Hardie Grant Books, 2021
The Voice to Parliament Handbook, Hardie Grant Books, 2023
Our Flag Our Story: The Torres Strait Islander Flag, Magabala Books, May 2024
Always Was, Always Will Be, Hardie Grant Books, September 2024