Naomi Mayers was born on Ermbie Mission in the Cowra area. Her mother's and father's family came from Cummeragunja and had been involved in the Walk-off from Cummeragunja in 1939. In her early childhood years, Mayers' family travelled, working where they could. When she was around the age of eight her parents separated. Mayers' mother found work and Mayers was sent to live in the Good Shepherd Convent and then the Abbotsford Convent in Melbourne, where she stayed till she was sixteen.
Her first job was in George Lawrence debt-collecting agency. On weekends she would attend her Uncle Doug Nicholls' church in Fitzroy. She also joined the choir helping to raise funds for the Victorian Aboriginal Advancement League. Prior to turning eighteen, Mayers' step-father convinced her to consider nursing as an occupation. Mayer completed the Nursing Aide course at the Royal Women's Hospital in Melbourne.
Soon after finishing her course she moved to work in Giru, Queensland. She stayed there a year to be near her sister before returning to Melbourne. Mayers got married and moved to Sydney where her son was born. When the marriage dissolved shortly after, she moved back to Melbourne with her child and got a job with the Victorian Ministry for Aboriginal Affairs. Mayers quit her job with the Ministry after they stopped the funding for the Aboriginal Advancement League.
Mayers and her son moved back to Sydney where she worked for the Co-operative that organised Tranby College. She then started work at the Aboriginal Medical Service (AMS) in Redfern, Sydney. The AMS used to be a small shop front but later became an organisation that was able to help fund other Indigenous communities to set up their own Medical Services. Mayers has worked at the AMS for over twenty years, helping improve Indigenous Australian health.
