Joe Williams
Joe Williams is a Wiradjuri, First Nations Aboriginal man born in Cowra and raised in Wagga Wagga. Joe played in the National Rugby League for South Sydney Rabbitohs, Penrith Panthers,…
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Joe Williams is a Wiradjuri, First Nations Aboriginal man born in Cowra and raised in Wagga Wagga. Joe played in the National Rugby League for South Sydney Rabbitohs, Penrith Panthers, and Canterbury Bulldogs before switching to professional boxing in 2009. As a boxer Joe was a 2x WBF World Jnr Welterweight champion and won the WBC Asia Continental Title.
Although forging a successful professional sporting career, Joe battled most of his life with suicidal ideation and bipolar disorder. After a suicide attempt in 2012, Joe felt his purpose was to help people who struggle with mental health and wellbeing. Since founding the organisation The Enemy Within in 2014, Joe has delivered wellbeing programs to over 200 communities across Australia and internationally. Joe
Joe is also an author having contributed to multiple books as well as his very own autobiography, Defying the Enemy Within. Joe was also named as finalist for the courage award in the 2017 National Indigenous Human Rights Awards and in 2018 was awarded the Suicide Prevention Australia Life Award for his work in communities across the country. In 2019, Joe was awarded Australia’s highest honour in the mental health field, announced as a co-winner of the National Mental Health Prize presented by the Australian Prime Minister. Joe is also an Adjunct Associate Professor at the School of Psychology at the University of Queensland.