Bob was born in the Northern Territory’s central desert region, to an Aboriginal woman who was a housemaid at Angus Downs cattle station. His father was the station owner but Bob lived with his extended Aboriginal family until he was taken away by authorities to spend the rest of his childhood at a home in Alice Springs, then a mission on Croker Island in the north of Australia. He never saw his mother again. Uncle Bob Randall passed away in 2015.