Western Australia has been home to six generations of Matt’s family and he and his wife are proud to be raising their two children in Perth.

Matt has worked right across Western Australia. He began his career as a tradesman, completing an electronics and communications apprenticeship. While doing this, he volunteered with a youth service connected to his Church. The community needs that he was exposed to as a volunteer inspired him to pursue a career change as a youth worker. Over the following eight years, he worked extensively with at-risk youth and their families.

These experiences informed his deep conviction that strong families, good government policy and meaningful employment have a critical role to play in building successful communities. In 2008, Matt joined Andrew and Nicola Forrest’s Minderoo Foundation. There he was given the responsibility of leading GenerationOne – a nation-building project that has seen tens of thousands of Indigenous people obtain work.

Matt has been instrumental in leading reform across employment and social policy areas in Australia. He has the first-hand experience necessary to be an effective advocate for Western Australia in the Senate. Matt will listen and learn from the community in which he lives and raises his family, and will deliver the measurable social and economic outcomes that it deserves.