Dr Tracy Westerman grew up in the Pilbara, where suicide and mental health issues have deeply scarred Indigenous communities. So this Nyamal woman decided to do something about it.

Nyamal woman Tracy Westerman grew up in some of the most remote parts of Western Australia, moving from a station to a town called Useless Loop, eventually landing in the mining town of Tom Price.

Tracy, the daughter of an Aboriginal mother and a white father, became the first person who was educated entirely in Tom Price, from kindergarten to year 12, to go on to University.

When she arrived in Perth, she had never been on a bus or on an escalator, but she was fired up to study psychology.

Tracy wanted to use the skills she learned in the city to deliver practical mental health care to Aboriginal people, and to help entire communities reeling from the impact of suicide and other mental health issues.

Along the way to obtaining her doctorate, Tracy has become a businesswoman, the WA Australian of the year, and she was awarded an Order of Australia Medal.

Her next mission is to build an army of Indigenous psychologists to continue the work she's already started.

Further information

Jilya is published by University of Queensland Press.

You can learn more about Dr Westerman's work here.

To binge even more great episodes of the ‘Conversations podcast’ with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, singers, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Nyamal woman Tracy Westerman grew up in some of the most remote parts of Western Australia, moving from a station to a town called Useless Loop, eventually landing in the mining town of Tom Price.

Tracy, the daughter of an Aboriginal mother and a white father, became the first person educated entirely in Tom Price, from kindergarten to year 12, to go on to University.

When she arrived in Perth, she had never been on a bus or on an escalator, but she was fired up to study psychology.

Tracy wanted to use the skills she learned in the city to deliver practical mental health care to Aboriginal people, and to help entire communities reeling from the impact of suicide and other mental health issues.

Along the way to obtaining her doctorate, Tracy has become a businesswoman, the WA Australian of the year, and she was awarded an Order of Australia Medal.

Her next mission is to build an army of Indigenous psychologists to continue the work she's already started.

This episode of Conversations discusses mental health care, mental health struggles, First Nations mental health, remote communities, interracial relationships, psychology, university, PhD study, tertiary education, the Pilbara, Nyamal, traditional owners, Indigenous psychologist.

Dear 2025, Thanks For the Memories