 Hailing from the West Australian country town of Wagin, Matera was born of an Italian father.He has seven siblings (Walter, Frank, Michael, Gino, Phillip, Gerard and Carmel), two of which were his older brother Wally Matera, and younger brother Phillip Matera, who both played football at the elite level.Matera played soccer as a youngster and was influenced by the success of Wally in playing Australian rules football.