16/02/2026
So happy to share this news. Over 20 years ago I (Carly) was lucky enough to do Tracy’s training while I was working in Cape York and living in Cairns. I was part of the fly in, fly out crew who were all passionate about the work they were doing, but I knew that something more was needed. It was part of the reason I returned to my own community that I had left 12 years before. Tracy’s passion for her community is inspiring. Her work has a two fold effect. It provides more mental health support while also supporting pathways for the suppprt to come from the community that needs it. This is the true meaning of a grassroots response. Over the last 21 years I have listened with an open heart to what our community wants. I have spent thousands of hours sitting in rooms with grieving mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, siblings, best mates. My heart has broken more times than I can count. The funerals don’t get any easier. They get harder when I look around and see the family of the funeral before it standing by, the shared understanding that flashes across the mother’s faces because they know each other’s pain. I carry a sense of urgency and responsibility with me every day to do everything I can to prevent another loss of life. These experiences have shown me that outside fly in and fly out or drive in and drive out services are not what we need. We need a response from within our community. One that taps into our own resources. Grows our own resources. Tracy has fought long and hard for her community and hasn’t wavered in her values. Tracy’s work continues to inspire me to keep going and to hold on strong to what guides me. The amazing ORT family have some exciting things happening this year and we’ll share them with you over the coming weeks. This year is an important milestone for us. 5 years of operating. Over 100 students completing rural placements. We are ready for the next chapter.
Something very special to share today. The Westerman Jilya Institute for Indigenous Mental Health — the charity I founded in 2019 — has received its first ever federal government funding, announced in the Close the Gap report this week. This is a landmark moment, and a deeply personal one. In 2019, the Fogliani Coronial Inquiry found that ‘system failure’ was killing Aboriginal children in the Kimberley. Thirteen children. I couldn’t sit with that. I started the Dr Tracy Westerman Indigenous Psychology Scholarship Program from my lounge room.
I put in $50,000 of my own money, donated all of my intellectual property — the data from my psychological tests, the intervention programs, my two decades of track record into Jilya, where I continue (and will continue) to work unsalaried every single day.
At the time, there were just 218 Indigenous people with psychology degrees in Australia. I pledged to of Indigenous psychologists so that never again shall a child die from a lack of access to services. Six years on: 79 scholarship recipients. 79% completing their degrees and moving into postgrad — almost triple the national average. Over 70% first in their families to go to uni. More than half from remote communities. 25% Indigenous men. And our graduates are already working in the communities that raised them. We select students not on grades but on how much disadvantage they represent — from Halls Creek, Tennant Creek, Derby, Walgett, Rockhampton, Mt Isa, Alice Springs, the Pilbara, Geraldton.
The fly-in, fly-out model favoured by Governments have taught us to look outside our communities for answers. But it is locals who never leave. Who are truly invested in hope.
That’s the whole point of Jilya. After six years of doing it tough, Jilya can finally breathe. I cannot wait to see what we achieve next. We have only just started. thejilyainstitute.com.au
