Veteran Gavin Murphy

Gavin was born and raised in Stilfontein, South Africa. On completing high school, he was conscripted into the South African Armoured Corps at 1SSB in Bloemfontein in 1979. He spent some time on Rhodesia’s border at the end of 79, saw active service in South West Africa and Angola. He was posted to Regiment Molopo at the end of his National Service, which was later disbanded and he was then posted to Regiment Mooi River.

Gavin married Beverly in July 1983, and they were blessed with two sons, Kearnan and Warrick. He then became a Trade Test Certified Electrician and worked on both gold and coal mines in this capacity. He then worked as a Lecturer then Senior Lecturer (Engineering Studies) at Pietermaritzburg Technical College for eight years, and then as a Process/Technical Training Coordinator at Alusaf Hillside Primary Aluminium Smelter in Richards Bay for four years. Gavin then joined an international SAP ERP implementation in Dubai in June 1998 for a four-year contract, and then moved back to South Africa in June 2002 for approximately one year due to personal reasons. In this time set up an internet café and coffee shop with his wife and taught at a Technical High School.

Gavin then immigrated to Australia in April 2003 and worked at Mitsubishi Motors in Adelaide.  In June 2004 he joined the Australian Army where he served as an Officer till March 2019 when he was medically discharged. Gavin completed a Diploma in Counselling to help him broaden his understanding of mental wellness, grief management and PTSD.

Gavin has been with SAMVOA QLD since its inception in 2009 and accepted the Brisbane Chairmanship in August 2024. His broad-brush’ goals are to strengthen our veteran community, promote mental and physical well-being (but no 2.4’s) and to honour our legacy. He looks forward to serving his fellow veterans with the assistance and input of his committee.