 Smith was associated with the Communist Party of Australia, and after leaving the party remained a prominent left-wing intellectual and Marxist thinker.Following the death of his wife in 1989, he sold much of their art collection to establish, the Kate Challis RAKA, one of the first prizes in the country for Indigenous artists and writers.Smith was born in Balmain, Sydney of Charles Smith and Rose Anne Tierney on 3 October 1916.