Now the AFL player and “proud” Adnyamathanha Aboriginal man is calling on all Australians to correct that wrong by backing a referendum to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the constitution.

It was his dream that every Aboriginal person would know their language and where they came from, and would be proud to stand up and say, as he did, “I am a proud Adnyamathanha man.”

“My dream is that our culture, our spirituality, is all passed on."

The Sydney Swans player - who only recently learnt that his mother was part of the stolen generation - was speaking at an event to promote the Recognise campaign to change the constitution to recognise the presence of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders before European settlement.

He said the story of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders’ contribution was missing from the constitution.

“There is nothing in the constitution right now, not a single world, that mentions that anyone was here in 1788. So we need to acknowledge this simple fact, and include the first Australians in our constitution at long last.”

Goodes, a vocal opponent of racism, said times had changed since the constitution was written 113 years ago.

Back then, he said, people thought the Aboriginal people were “a dying race”.

Today there was widespread recognition and pride that the oldest living culture on earth was part of Australian history.

“Yet the impressive story about our longer story is still missing from Australia's founding document. I grew up learning that Australia was colonised by the British and nobody was here before Captain Cook - it was quite a shock to learn otherwise.

"So we need to fix the silence of this history in our founding document. So Australian history doesn't suddenly start in 1788, it begins with the Aboriginal and Torres strait islanders.”

Former Liberal senator and Senior Australian of the Year Fred Chaney told the event at Sydney’s Wayside Chapel that, while the change had bipartisan support, a referendum could not be held until there was some certainty it would succeed.

A report by the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, which Mr Chaney had co-chaired, had recommended that a referendum should be held, but only if there was widespread community support.

"They want us to only proceed if we are going to win. Imagine the impact on Aboriginal and Islander people if we have a referendum and it is beaten. Nothing would send a more negative message."

Goodes said it was time the constitution caught up with changes in society. He said learning his own history was very hard to hear and read about.

“Having a mother who is stolen generation, and all my aunties and uncles who have been displaced as well, raised many unanswered questions and untold stories. To seek out that information, and learn the history, it was very hard to hear and read about. I was never taught indigenous history at school."

Goodes was honoured as Australian of the Year 2014 for his work in setting up the Go Foundation and for his efforts on and off the football field to stop "casual racism".