Michael Williams is a member of the Gooreng Gooreng Aboriginal community from the country between Gladstone and Bundaberg in south-east Queensland. His involvement in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs includes serving as director of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Unit, The University of Queensland and on the Board of the Special Broadcasting Services (SBS), a national television and radio broadcaster devoted to broadcasting material of particular interest to the ethnic communities represented within in the Australian population.
In 2009, part of Williams' life story was featured in the National Museum of Australia's exhibition From Little Things Big Things Grow: Fighting For Indigenous Rights 1920-1970.
