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Matthew is the 2009 Australian Young Lawyer of the Year.
Matthew
was born in Armadale, Western
Australia, in 1981 and is the eldest of 5 children. He has lived
his whole life in Kelmscott, attending St Francis Xavier
Primary School in Armadale and Mazenod College
in Lesmurdie. In 2004 Matthew graduated with a double degree in Law and
Arts, majoring in Politics and History with First Class Honours from
the University of Notre
Dame Australia. Matthew's honours topic was Campaign Finance Regulation in
Australia.
Matthew has been an active member of his local Catholic
parish from a very young age, serving as an Alter Server, Youth
Leader, Eucharistic Minister and Parish Councillor. Matthew is still
involved in band at the Church. He has also been involved in a prison
outreach program at Banksia Hill Juvenile Detention Centre run by Young
Vinnies (an arm of St Vincent de Paul).
Matthew loves to
travel and has been to Indonesia on a missionary tour, Europe and the
United States on holiday as well as studying in London. He has also been
involved in theatre, dancing and music as well as being a keen
participator in a number of team sports. Matthew is a member of the
Roleystone Theatre group and has been a member of the Kelmscott
Agricultural Society for about 10 years.
Matthew was
Communications Director (2001) and Secretary (2002) of the Student
Association of the University of Notre Dame Australia. While at
university, Matthew worked in the IT industry as a customer service
officer and an onsite technician as well as an outside clerk for local
law firm Travers & Keogh.
Matthew has worked as an
electorate officer for the current State Member for Armadale and
Minister for Planning and Infrastructure Hon
Alannah MacTiernan MLA. He also worked as a liaison officer in her
ministerial office. In late 2003 Matthew began work in the Policy
Division of the Department
of the Premier and Cabinet.
After the re-election of the
Gallop Labor Government Matthew commenced his Article Clerkship at law
firm Travers
& Keogh in Kelmscott, where he then commenced working as a
lawyer. After a trip to the FIFA World Cup in Germany and some legal
work experience in London in the middle of 2006, Matthew is now working
as a lawyer at the Office
of the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions in Perth.
Matthew was appointed to the Community Reference Group of the Armadale Redevelopment
Authority in 2002 and re-appointed in 2004, leaving the CRG in 2007.
Matthew was also the Chair of the Board of Starick Services
Inc, an organisation that runs women's refuges and provides
assistance to women and children suffering from domestic violence, from
2005 to 2007. Matthew was a community representative on the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP) State
Advisory Committee in 2006 and 2007.
In 2007 Matthew was the
President of Young Labor, the youth wing
of the Australian Labor Party, in Western Australia and is currently the
Convenor of the ALP(WA) Law, Public Administration and Community Safety
Policy Committee.
Matthew was a Junior Member of The Law Society of
Western Australia Council in 2008 and is a member of the following
Law Society Committees:
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