Gina Austin (2009)
Sonia Todd
Episodes: 4776 - 4778, 4818, 4831-4845, 4928-4929, 4946-present
Marital Status: Jeremy Austin (separated)
Children: Hugo, Xavier and Brendan Austin
Siblings: Tony Holden
Tony Holden's sister, Gina, arrived in the Bay to attend the funeral of her nephew, Jack. Gina is the mother of Xavier, Hugo and Brendan and has brought them up on her own after separating from their father many years ago.
Gina could see how distraught Tony was following Jack's death and wanted to be ther to support her brother. They reminisced about how Jack and Hugo used to pretend to be Batman and Superman when they were children and she told Tony that he should be proud for bringing up two wonderful boys. However, she was soon distracted by the friction with her son Xavier. Xavier resented Gina for making him break up with his girlfriend, Freya, and having to take on so much responsibility looking after his older brother Brendan, who has learning difficulties. Gina told Xavier that she was proud of him and Hugo but Gina notably didn't say she was proud of Brendan too.
At Jack's funeral, Gina's eldest son, Hugo, turned up from overseas. She was over the moon to see him but Xavier wasn't as he felt Hugo had abandoned the family when he left. Gina was upset when the tension between the two brothers escalated but she did her best to reconcile them. Gina was worried about Freya's influence on Xavier and she agreed to Hugo's idea about Xavier and him staying in the Bay permanently. She decided that she would be fine looking after Brendan on her own back at home.
Gina returned to the bay a few months later to bring Brendan to visit his brothers. Gina looked very pleased that Brendan was happy again as he had missed Xavier. Gina was also pleased to see her brother, Tony, and that his and Rachel's wedding was back on track. Gina was worried about Brendan meeting Rachel and Martha but her fears were allayed when he took to them both straight away.
However, when the time came to leave, Brendan didn't want to go and ended up struggling with Gina. This resulted in Brendan pushing Gina to the floor, breaking her ankle. When she returned from the hospital, Gina insisted she would be OK looking after Brendan as she was getting a friend to come and stay. Hugo wanted Brendan to stay in the Bay with him and Xavier but Gina wasn't keen. However, Hugo eventually talked her into it, despite Gina and Xavier's reluctance.
She returned a third time for Tony's wedding and discovered that Brendan had been behind the accident that injured Roman and that Xavier had been covering for him. She took Brendan to the city until the charges were dropped. After a lunch with Tony and Rachel she came home to find Hugo distraught and Brendan missing. He came home soon after, covered in blood and insisting that Hugo had hurt him. Gine initially didn't believe Hugo that it was an accident but he eventually got through to her and she returned to the city with Brendan, leaving her sons on good terms finally.
Gina returned to Summer Bay to help celebrate Brendan's 21st birthday. She was disconcerted when Ted, a man she had been seeing on a casual basis after meeting him at a teacher refresher course, followed her to the town and told the family that he'd invited Gina to come away with him for a month. She was reluctant to leave Brendan but Martha and Hugo offered to look after him and Gina left on her trip. However, she returned after only a short while, revealing Ted had wanted her to put Brendan in a home. She was therefore not in the mood for the news that Brendan had befriended a Down's Syndrome sufferer, Ruby Leeds, and wanted to live in a community house with her. She refused to consider the idea, saying she knew what was best for Brendan, but when he saved Xavier from drowning, and she also saw that he was capable of doing other simple jobs like making phone calls on his own, she realised he was more independent than she thought and gave her consent.
Gina was somewhat at a loss without Brendan and Tony lined her up an interview as a science teacher at Summer Bay High. She admitted to Martin Bartlett that she had been out of teaching for a long time and had struggled with a principal's post, saying when students were involved she felt she needed to be honest. The attitude impressed Martin and he offered her the post of acting principal. She quickly told Xavier and Ruby off for arriving late and told Xavier he needed to set an example, so wasn't happy when she was promptly dragged down the police station when Robert Robertson interviewed him about Charlie's whereabouts the night Grant Bledcoe was killed. When Robert continued to question Xavier, Gina realised he had lied about the alibi and persuaded him to tell the truth. She encouraged Xavier to break up with Ruby but was equally disapproving when she learned he had lied to her about having amnesia.
On one of her first days at her new job, Gina was surprised to meet John Palmer, who had come to the school to give a talk about the surf club. Despite her family having a chequered history with him, they got on well and began socialising, even after his and Martha's election battle almost turned nasty. She agreed to have dinner with him after they talked about funding for the school but was put out when he fired Romeo for failing to turn up for a lesson, telling him he should have given him a warning first. John managed to win her round and she let him take her out for a surfing lesson. Xavier made it clear he wasn't happy about the relationship and after learning of another argument between the pair, she invited John round to dinner. After the evening descended into chaos when Xavier's two "girlfriends" Ali and Rosie both turned up, Gina tried to shock him by saying John was going to stay the night and was relieved when John realised she wasn't serious. Xavier told her he was worried John would hurt her like his dad did and eventually agreed to give the relationship a go after Gina convinced him she knew what she was doing.
Gina was shocked when Suzy Sudiro turned up and claimed to be Hugo's wife but ultimately gave him the benefit of the doubt and encouraged him to do whatever he could to make things up with Martha. When Miles was accused of assaulting Riley Radcliffe, Gina reluctantly suspended him from work but did arrange for him to attend the school formal in an unofficial capacity. Even after Miles was cleared of charges, she realised he was still in a bad place emotionally and instructed him to take stress leave. She was somewhat dumbfounded when Hugo abruptly ended his relationship with Martha and decided to leave town but still wished him well.