Fred Conway (Aboriginal elder)

Conway was born in the Aboriginal mission of Woorabinda where he grew up.[2] He has said when he was growing up the 1940s and 1950s, he was naive about his culture as Aboriginal people on missions were not permitted to speak about or practice their culture. However, Conway said by the time he was a teenager, the superintendent would exercise some leniency, allowing the residents to gather bush tucker on weekends and hunt food to feed the community.[2]

He had ambitions to be a carpenter which he believed would have enabled him to build a proper home for his grandparents but an expectation existed where a son would following his father's trade.[2] Therefore, he became a stockman like his father and worked on "Foleyvale Station", the Woorabinda Pastoral Company's cattle property situated on the Mackenzie River, north of Duaringa.[2][4]

Conway said he didn't enjoy working as a stockman but it helped him develop a respect for the countryside.[2] He worked on a cattle station near Winton before joining the Roy Bell tent boxing troupe travelling throughout Queensland and New South Wales before spending a year in the Mount Penang Boys Home before finally returning home to Woorabinda at the age of 18.[2]

After obtaining work as a police liaison officer, Conway met an Aboriginal relics officer who asked Conway if he'd be interested in such work.[2] Conway took up the opportunity and subsequently worked in Brisbane, Mount Isa, Rockhampton and Injune.[2]

In the late 1980s, Conway took up a job as an interpretative ranger for the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service at the Carnarvon National Park.[2] Throughout his time as a ranger, he advocated for the protection of cultural sites such as the rock art found throughout the park and is credited with helping visitors understand Aboriginal history and culture and the need to respect the park's rock art sites.[3][5]

While working in Carnarvon, Conway helped establish the Aboriginal Seasonal Ranger Program in 2005 which was designed to enable young Aboriginal people to get back onto country and learn skills and become involved in the management of their land.[3][6]

Conway retired to Duaringa in April 2014 but under the Nature Conservation Act was named as an honorary protector of Carnarvon National Park.[2]

In 2014, Conway was in discussions with Central Highlands Regional Council about launching a local initiative where he could teach tourists in Emerald about the making of traditional weapons such as nulla nullas and boomerangs while also conducting local walking tours to educate visitors about the ways of Indigenous Australians.[6]

In 2019, he was diagnosed with head and neck cancer.[7] He underwent surgery to remove the cancer and spent eight months in Brisbane receiving radiation treatment.[8] However, the cancer returned in 2021.[8]

Conway is a grandfather of more than 70 grandchildren.[8]