Central Queensland University’s Nulloo Yumbah centre has celebrated its first two Indigenous psychology graduates.

Sarah Lippitt, 21, and Samantha Cooms, 21, successfully graduated with honours from CQU’s Bachelor of Psychology program this month and are both now working as counsellors for the Bidgerdii Community Health Service and Bidgerdii Regional Training Centre in Rockhampton respectively.

Sarah and Samantha are both passionate about working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) people and saw psychology as an avenue to make a difference.

For Rockhampton local Sarah, her degree has meant she can help her people access help when they need it.

“There is a lot of stigma attached to mental illness and mental health practitioners in Aboriginal communities, particularly in regards to confidentiality and culturally appropriate forms of treatment. I want to address this stigma in the communities by raising awareness of mental illness to reduce the 'shame factor'.

“I also want to be a positive role model for young people in the community.”.

Sarah said Aboriginal people do not access mental health services in a proactive fashion and are usually only seen following a crisis.

She believes her work at Bidgerdii can help with the prevention and intervention of such a crisis.

Sam Cooms, who is a Noonukul woman from North Stradbroke Island, decided to pursue a psychology degree because of her personal experiences living on Stradbroke.

“Where I come from we have excellent medical services, but the mental health support for people on the island is from Brisbane.

“A lot of murries on Stradbroke do not trust visitors from Brisbane because they do not understand what people on the island have to cope with everyday.

“Because of this, murrie people on Stradbroke are very reluctant to utilise those services even if it is really needed.

She adds that this situation is common across Aboriginal communities in Australia and needs to be addressed.

Sam hopes to use her current position in Rockhampton to build up skills and experience to one day go back to Stradbroke and work with her own people.

Both Sarah and Sam partly attribute their graduation and employment success to the encouragement and support received from Nulloo Yumbah’s staff as well as the support of family and friends.

Nulloo Yumbah is CQU's Centre for Indigenous Learning, Spirituality and Research.