Reginald Williams OAM

Reginald Williams OAM
Torres Strait Islands
Acting Sergeant
49th Battalion, Royal Queensland Regiment
51st Independent Rifle Company, Royal Queensland Regiment which then became 51st Battalion, Far North Queensland Regiment
Australian Army Reserve

Medals and Awards
Medal of the Order of Australia – OAM
Australian Defence Medal

I was born on Thursday Island and raised in the Northern Peninsula Area. What inspired me to enlist was one of my cousins, McBonnie Wasiu, who joined the regular army back when the Vietnam War was at its peak. He joined 1 RAR, did all his training at Ingleburn, and then joined 6 RAR. He arrived in Penang in 1973. We wanted to join the regulars, but our parents wouldn’t sign the papers, so we joined the reserves instead. I joined the 49th Infantry Battalion, Royal Queensland Regiment and transferred to the 51st Light Infantry Battalion. I was discharged with the rank of Acting Sergeant.

As a lifelong member of Bamaga and the Northern Peninsula region with a deep knowledge of Torres Strait Culture and traditions, which we call Ilan Kastom, I have always been keen to use my skills in communication, negotiation and relationship management to support my community in meeting the challenges they face, particularly in lack of housing. In 1977, I became a public servant for the Queensland Government as a Ranger looking after and recording traditional cultural archaeological sites. Wanting a career change, in 1981 I shifted to transport, becoming a truck driver, moving logs to the local mill and driving graders and bulldozers. On weekends, I worked as a contractor lumberjack for a local mill. In 1987, I transferred back into the Queensland Government as a General Overseer on the Public Service Board until the department was closed down in 1991.  In 1985, while I was still working for Queensland Government, I became a Councillor for three terms at the Bamaga Island Council (BIC) and became Chairperson for another three terms between 1994 -2000. I am one of the founding members of the Torres Strait Regional Authority (TSRA) and served as a Director between 1994 – 2004 and then again between 2008 – 2012. TSRA amalgamated into the Northern Peninsula Area Regional Council (NPARC) in 2008. At that time, I was elected as the first Bamaga Councillor on the NPARC.

In 2002, I and fellow BIC Councillors Robert Poi Poi, Clifford Wasiu, Jonathon Yusia and the late Jesse Sagaukaz established Bamaga Enterprises Ltd (BEL). Bamaga Enterprises Limited is a not-for-profit, community-owned company that reinvests its profits back into the community. We established BEL to help raise standards of living for Indigenous residents of Bamaga and the Northern Peninsula Area.

I have been very honoured to receive awards in recognition of my efforts. In 2002, I was awarded the Centenary Medal for contributions to Australian society and government. In 2019, I was the second member of the Bamaga community to be awarded the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for my services to the Indigenous community of Queensland; Abikuiam Adidi was the first from the Bamaga community.