Foster is a member of the
Australian Multicultural Council, since 2018 and . He has long been an advocate for footballers and has been human rights and refugee ambassador for
Amnesty International. He has often used his position as presenter and chief football analyst at SBS to criticise unethical practices in the game. He works in a range of social programs, including
Indigenous rights and
self-determination;
homelessness in Australia;
climate change; and advocacy for refugees.
Hakeem al-Araibi campaign Foster was vocal in campaigning on behalf of Bahraini footballer
Hakeem al-Araibi, who was granted protection as a political refugee in Australia in 2014 but was detained upon arrival in Thailand in November 2018 while on his honeymoon with his wife owing to an
Interpol red notice put out by Bahrain. Foster travelled to Switzerland to present a petition with more than 50,000 signatures demanding the release of the detained footballer and held talks with general secretary
Fatma Samoura FIFA on 29 January 2019, spent time in Thailand speaking to al-Araibi's legal team and visited al-Araibi in prison. Foster's many
tweets on the topic were widely shared. After al-Araibi's release was secured, others tweeted nominations for Foster as
Australian of the Year or even prime minister. Many politicians, including prime minister
Scott Morrison praised him for his efforts. Foster plays a prominent role in the 2023 documentary film
The Defenders by
Adelaide filmmaker
Matthew Bate, which tells the story the campaign to free al-Araibi from prison. It was released on
Amazon Prime Video on 23 June 2023, after being shown at the
Sydney Film Festival (where it won an audience award) and a special preview screening by
Adelaide Film Festival in
Adelaide on 21 June. Foster is also credited as co-writer on the film, as some of the script was based on his book,
Fighting for Hakeem, which was the
working title of the film.
Refugee advocacy On 22 February 2019, Foster published an open letter to the Australian prime minister
Scott Morrison and leader of the opposition,
Bill Shorten, in
The Sydney Morning Herald, in which, after thanking them for their assistance in helping to free al-Araibi, he addressed the issue of how Australia treats its asylum seekers. He said "I have waited until after Hakeem was safely home [from Thailand] to explain that one of the reasons it was so difficult to garner international support was because of our own treatment of refugees. This was a constant theme throughout discussions with international stakeholders" and "The policy of indefinite,
offshore detention does not uphold our international obligations...". He said that he was urging others to uphold their human rights obligations in allowing al-Araibi to return to Australia, while "we are failing to uphold our own". He became the face of Amnesty Australia's "Game Over" (#GameOver) campaign in late 2019, which has been supported by high-profile sportspeople such as
Liz Ellis,
Benny Elias,
Paul Roos,
Ian Chappell,
Lisa Sthalekar,
Paul Wade,
Frank Farina,
Alex Tobin,
Craig Moore; musician
Jimmy Barnes, actors
Bryan Brown and
Anthony La Paglia musicians and many others. In October 2020, as part of the campaign, Foster and NRL star
Sonny Bill Williams presented a petition containing more than 65,000 signatures to
federal parliament, which called upon the government to take up New Zealand's longstanding (since 2013) offer to resettle refugees who had been held Australian offshore detention for many years. On 23 March 2022 Foster delivered the
Australian National University's annual "Australia and the World Lecture", which had been postponed from 2021 owing to the
COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, at the
National Press Club of Australia. It was titled "Human Rights, Democracy and Global Citizenry - Recovering Australia's Humanity and Place in the World: 2021 ANU Australia and the World Lecture". The address looked at Australia's role in the world from the lived experience of asylum seekers and refugees, and argued that the nation should live up to its commitments as a responsible
global citizen. In the talk, he said that Australia had not performed well Indigenous and refugee rights or on
climate change. He bemoaned the lack of good leadership on these issues, and said that the
colonisation of Australia had been underpinned by
racism, and is still present in policy and media coverage; that it is a "festering sore on the national psyche". The following day, Home Affairs Minister
Karen Andrews announced that the government would accept New Zealand's to resettle some of the refugees.
Saudi Arabia and Qatar Foster was a vocal critic of the
2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, particularly on the issue of wage theft and labour abuses on the migrant workers that built the World Cup infrastructure. He has vocally supported the #PayUpFIFA campaign of the
Human Rights Watch, which advocates for the payment of US$440 million for the affected families of the mistreated migrant workers. He has also criticised Saudi Arabia's sponsorship of the
2023 FIFA Women's World Cup as a case of
sportswashing, stating that "It would be quite the irony for Saudi’s tourism body to sponsor the largest celebration of women’s sport in the world when you consider that, as a woman in Saudi Arabia, you can’t even have a job without the permission of your male guardian." He also criticised the reform policies of
Mohammed bin Salman as mere "publicity stunts" to diversify the Saudi economy.
Other roles Foster was formerly Director of the Council on Australia Latin America Relations with the
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Up until May 2024, he was the co-chair of ARM alongside former Olympian and senator
Nova Peris, who resigned to disagreements with Foster's criticism of
Israel during the
Gaza war. Peris, a supporter of Israel, accused Foster of making "inaccurate and divisive public statements" in regards to the war. Following this, Foster himself stood down. He has volunteered with Play for Lives (#PlayForLives), a response to the
COVID-19 pandemic by sporting people and bodies, which began in Australia and expanded internationally. He is a driving force behind "#RacismNotWelcome", Their strategy includes building street signs bearing the slogan "#RacismNotWelcome" in every
local council in Australia. Foster also holds the following positions: • Adjunct Professor of Sport & Social Responsibility with
Torrens University • Ambassador for
The Big Issue Street Soccer Program • Member of the Australia Committee of
Human Rights Watch • Director of the Nangala Foundation for early literacy in Indigenous communities and the
Moriarty Foundation football programs • Member of the Advisory Council of the Australian Human Rights Institute at
UNSW • Member of Affinity Intercultural Foundation • Director of the Crescent Foundation ==Recognition and honours==