Gavin Mate has a rich and proud Aboriginal history from his mother's family; they originate from the north west region of New South Wales and Queensland border.
Gavin Mate has had a long motivating career as a public servant. He first began working for Social Security at age fifteen and soon advanced his way up to Aboriginal Liaison Officer and Team Leader by his early twenties. Gavin then became Manager of the Indigenous Services Unit at Centrelink in South-West Sydney and more recently in 2007, he became the manager of the Aboriginal Employment Strategy (AES) in Campbelltown (a not-for-profit organisation assisting job seekers).
Source: My Father My Brother : Stories of Campbelltown's Aboriginal Men
[2008]