Rodney “Goldie” Atkinson, one of the founders of Brothers For Life, admits working in one of Australia’s most brutal gangs was neither glamorous nor rewarding.

In an interview with Rahni Sadler on Sunday Night, in which he admitted that he wanted to “reveal the truth” and expose the “lies.”

A hulking, tattooed giant with a brutal reputation, he said he realised the gangs were using him as an enforcer.

“All of life is not glamorous, what you feel, what you find attractive and what you think is good at a given moment… is not,” he said.

“It’s sh**. It’s absolute sh**. One fat guy sits there and gets rich, the rest are just soldiers. They go in and out of prison, and when they’re exhausted, they find someone else.”

Asked if he felt like a “pawn,” Goldie replied, “Yeah… they don’t care.”

The Brothers For Life gang was founded by convicted killer Bassam Hamzy. He recruited Goldie as his enforcer while they were both serving sentences in a maximum security prison.

After being released, Goldie began working for the gang.

“I got paid, it was a job and something you liked doing. It’s a little easier than taking a job and working 9 to 5 doing something you didn’t like,” he said.

“I liked the lifestyle, it was a quick buck. I stayed in hotels, ordered room service, worked out at the gym… if I saw something in a store, I could buy it. When you grow up as a kid and don’t have all that stuff, it’s cool.”

The gang made a fortune distributing and selling drugs. They were responsible for murders, shootings, kneecappings and assaults.

Goldie, who is 36, has spent half of his adult life behind bars.

He has an eight-year-old daughter with his partner Amanda Swan. They met when she was a 21-year-old nursing student. Goldie was sent to prison shortly after their daughter was born.

“When I came out, she was seven, so for me it was like… she was a koala and I was a tree, all this tenderness. I panicked. It didn’t matter to her. I was a dad… I was the best thing in her life.”

“I couldn’t believe someone could love you so unconditionally.”

Today, Goldie Atkinson is a free man. He also claims to be a changed man, telling Sunday Night he is determined to make his daughter happy.

He is in the process of having his “Brothers 4 Life” tattoos removed and wants to get rid of his famous row of 24-karat gold teeth.

“These are not the things my daughter finds attractive,” he said. “I don’t want her to seek out a guy who looks like that.”

Goldie now tries to encourage others not to follow in his footsteps and join gangs. He visits schools as a public speaker and mentor, .

“Just telling them where I’ve been, where I’ve ended up… don’t make bad decisions.

“No gang is going to take care of you at the end. The only gang that is going to take care of you is your blood, your family, your mom and dad, no matter what you’ve done in life, they’re always going to be the ones who visit you at the end of the day.”