He stops a number of times during our conversation to crack jokes with his regular clients and co-workers, or to help a young woman looking for food vouchers.

It's clear that Dean, a Senior Case Manager at the Hub, is the beating heart of this place.

It's also clear that he loves what he does.

But, his journey to becoming the person he is now is far from conventional.

Born and raised in regional Western Australia, Dean left home at just 17 to travel to the UK and then across Africa and Japan.

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He then got a job as a flight attendant which saw him continue his life of travel.

But, all that changed when he got diagnosed with cancer and had to undergo treatment.

"I went to see a counselor, which I didn't think I needed, and an hour later realised 'I'm a completely different person than I thought I was.'"

Dean said he also suffered a relationship breakdown and saw his dog hit by a car around this time, and it was his counsellor that made him realise he wanted to help people - just like she had helped him.

"I said 'I don't know how you can sit and listen to me howl like that.' And she said 'well, that's my job.'"

"If she hadn't been there, I don't think I'd be here.

"And so I thought, 'I'm sick of people complaining about chicken or beef. I want to do something good.'"

So, he returned to WA and began working with Centrelink before being transferred to the NT fourteen years ago.

He said his experience working in remote communities for Centrelink during the Northern Territory Intervention shaped the rest of his career.

"It was a very, very ugly time," Dean said.

"[But], from working in communities, I've got to know all the mob, all the families, all the names, who was from where, actually built up a bit of trust.

"And then we ended up in Katherine, and this job came up. And that's why I'm good at this job, because I kind of know who's who what's what."

Like many people who found themselves in Katherine for what was supposed to be a short-term stint, he ended up staying.

"I love getting up in the morning, living 10 k's out of town on five acres. It's peaceful, we've got stars every night, I've got good neighbors, three dogs and a camper trailer," he said.

He said as an openly gay man, Katherine was a really inclusive and supportive community to be a part of.

"There's a good little gay and lesbian community here," Dean said.

"And, no one gives a shit. Everybody knows I'm married to a man.

"Life's easy."

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