Nick Sullivan - Gus Cleary

Gus Cleary, played by Ben Barrack, made his first on-screen appearance on 17 February 2004. Gus was a friend of Max Hoyland and came to stay with him. He was later murdered by Paul Robinson during the Lassiter's fire.

Barrack went to two auditions for Gus and four days after the second one, he was given the role. Barrack said that his character is "clearly a pretty mixed up fella", but believes that people felt some empathy for him. He said that he researched schizophrenia and thought about things that happened in Gus' life which may have led to him acting the way he did. He believed that Gus was "almost childlike in his need to be liked and accepted."

Gus comes from a privileged background and is forced to accept a job on one of his father's oil rigs when he uses up all of his chances. Gus' inability to do his job almost causes a major oil spill and Max Hoyland (Stephen Lovatt), his supervisor, fires him. Years later, Gus arrives in Erinsborough, where Max and his family had settled down. Gus takes a look around Max's house when it is put up for auction by its owner and steals a photo. He then meets up with Max and tells him that there are no hard feelings between them. However, on the day of the auction Gus hides in the house and places his own bids by phone, which forces Max to bid over his limit. Max helps Gus find some work at Lou's Place and Gus also starts dating Izzy Hoyland (Natalie Bassingthwaighte), despite the fact that she feels unsettled by Gus' possessiveness. Gus continues with his manipulation of the Hoyland family, by talking to Boyd (Kyal Marsh) about his girlfriend and buying Steph (Carla Bonner) a model motorbike. Gus also rescues Summer (Marisa Siketa) after she gets stuck in a bad part of town. Gus slips sedative into Max's drink just before he drives Steph to the hospital. Max just manages to avoid an accident and puts it down to too many beers at lunch. Max injures his back and Gus spends his time at the Hoyland's looking after him.

Gus continues to give Max sedatives, but he tries to cover his tracks when Max goes to the hospital for tests, and the sedatives are found in his blood. Karl Kennedy (Alan Fletcher) looks into Gus' past and finds that he was sent to a mental hospital. Max asks Gus to leave, but he returns to say goodbye to Summer and Boyd fights with him. Gus breaks in and hides in the roof, only coming out to do the housework. He is discovered and Max chases him to a building site, they both fight in the rafters of a house and they fall. Gus then disappears. Gus discovers that Izzy is pregnant and he tries to speak to her, but Karl sees them and calls the police. Gus is taken away to a mental hospital and Izzy tells him that the baby is not his. Gus is then transferred to a Perth hospital. He appears months later at Izzy's wedding to Karl. He tells Izzy that she should be with him and she tells him that she lost the baby. Gus kisses her and leaves, he goes to Ramsay Street and Max tries to win his trust. Stuart Parker (Blair McDonough) appears and Gus runs off. That evening, a fire destroys the Lassiter's complex and a burnt body is discovered. It is identified as Gus and tests reveal that he was murdered.