Murray Benton is an Aboriginal Barkanji Koori man from Central West New South Wales. Murray brings a wealth of experience in the not-for-profit sector and youth services. Now employed by Q Shelter, a leading peak body in Queensland working to influence solutions to housing needs and homelessness, Murray is operating across Queensland with Community Housing Providers to enhance their capability and capacity to increase social and affordable housing supply.
Previously managing a regional Youth Service in Queensland, Murray gained the essential skills and experience needed to understand the devastating impacts on Australia’s most vulnerable young people experiencing crisis, homelessness or displacement from their homes. Working closely with an array of government departments and non-government agencies, Murray’s leadership directed specialist housing services including immediate crisis response, crisis accommodation programs, case management, emergency relief, primary health and antenatal care, sexual and reproductive health, natural disaster recovery efforts, immediate housing response for families, and Queensland’s first local housing action plan. Murray has also operated inside domestic family violence services including refuge settings.
In 2018, Murray gained national exposure and recognition for his youth mental health and suicide prevention campaign called ‘The Good Fight Australia’, in direct response to his own family’s lived experience. This endeavour aimed to foster heightened awareness and seek greater government assistance for Australian families enduring the harsh effects of youth bullying, and self-harm in schooling environments. Backed by a diverse range of local, national, and international visibility and endorsements, Murray led this campaign for two years.
In 2023, Murray joined White Ribbon Australia as a Community Partner where he is further fuelling his passion for being a positive male voice. Through engaging in actionable measures with this movement Murray’s passion lies in the eradication of all forms of violence towards women, and children. As a survivor of domestic family violence together with his mother, Murray is aligned with the vision of a nation where every woman is free from all forms of men’s violence and abuse.
Murray has direct ties to the Stolen Generation and has experienced first-hand how severance of familial bonds, cultural identity, ancestral lands, language, heritage, and connection continues to underpin much of the anguish, trauma, complex interrelationships, and systemic challenges that impact many First Nations people in Australia today. It is with this in mind that he encourages everyone to join him as a supporter of the 2023 Voice to Parliament Referendum by voting, yes.