Born in Lismore, Gavin Ivey is a proud Aboriginal South Sea Islander from the Bundjalung Nation of far Northern Coastal New South Wales.

Born in Lismore, Gavin began studying at NAISDA College, where he received a Diploma of Dance. Spending a year at South Africa’s Moving Into Dance Mophatong and The Australian Ballet School, he also gained a Diploma in Community Dance Teaching and an Advanced Diploma of Dance Teaching respectively. Gavin appeared in Bangarra’s Fish: an unborn soul for SBS TV, Bipotim and Minymaku Inma and been in severalcommercials promoting Aboriginal Culture.

As a freelance Performance Artist, Gavin has also performed with Cultural Encounters, Garrabarras, AIDT Cultural Ensemble, FRESH, Urbanfusion, Albert David and Dancers, Jannawi Dance Clan, Jason Pitt & Dancers, Ngaru and Plasticiens Volants. During his time freelancing, Gavin has toured extensively throughout Australia, as well as South Africa, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, France, Spain, Belgium, Poland, Germany, England, Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, Greece, Dubai, Turkey, Malaysia, Fiji, Palau, Kanake and Vanuatu.

Gavin has had very close connections with Gadigal Information Services Aboriginal Corporation since 1993, and has volunteered and worked in a number of roles at Koori Radio including hosting The Brekky Show, Blackchat, Our Yura, and The Drift Zone. Alongside presenting he has also worked in the roles of Administrative Assistant, Outside Broadcast Producer, Volunteer Co-ordinator, Trainer, and Production/Program Manager. He also co-ordinated Koori Radio’s most successful live outside broadcast at 2017 Bluesfest/Boomerang, which attracted over 100,000 Koori Radio website visitors over the 5 day event.

Gavin’s involvement in community broadcasting has also allowed him to hold places on the directory and advisory boards of the Community Media Training Organisation (CMTO), First Nations Media Australia, and Indigitube. He has also been on the panel of Spotify’s Aboriginal Podcast Soundup Bootcamp, Audiocraft’s Collaborative Storytelling Discussion, The Community Broadcasting Association of Australia’s National Features & Documentary Series, and First Sounds.

He holds a Certificate IV in Media for Radio and Screen through the CMTO, where he also trained in Podcasting, Outside Broadcasting, Audio Editing and Radio Presentation. Complementing this are his studies with Transom Radio/CMTO’s Storytelling for Podcasting Travelling Workshop and The AFTRS Podcasting Fundamentals Online Course.

Gavin’s poems have been published in the Koori Mail and he has also performed spoken word at The Queensland Writers Centre Speakeasy Cafe and The 9th Festival of Pacific Arts.

Gavin DJs around Sydney and loves assisting freelance Dancers with soundtracks, including the 2015 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras First Nations Parade Entry, which he co-produced with Aboriginal Project ACON and MOD.

In the mid-2000s, Gavin studied Conservation and Land Management and was instrumental in helping establish Madhima Gulgan, a community bush regeneration business up in his hometown Mullumbimby.

In 2019 Gavin entered the podcast arena, with a focus on the Global Queer Community.