Five years ago, Sharni Upton joined Wakai Waian Healing as a university student with a clear vision: to become a psychologist who could help create better outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Today, that vision has become reality.
As Wakai Waian Healing celebrates Sharni’s five-year anniversary with the organisation, we also celebrate one of our own success stories. Her journey reflects what is possible when Indigenous practitioners are supported to grow, lead and remain connected to community throughout their careers.
A proud Barada and Kabalbara woman, Sharni has lived throughout Central Queensland, from Ghungalu Country in Blackwater to Dharumbal Country, where she has established strong family and community connections.
She joined Wakai Waian Healing in July 2021 while completing her undergraduate psychology degree. Over the past five years, she has achieved milestone after milestone, completing her Honours, earning a Master of Clinical Psychology, becoming the first clinician to undertake Wakai Waian Healing’s Clinical Registrar Program, and more recently being appointed Clinical Lead.
Her career has developed alongside the organisation itself.
Throughout those years, Sharni has contributed across numerous programs and communities, supporting consumers, strengthening clinical systems and helping shape the organisation’s growing model of culturally informed psychological care.
Chief Executive Officer Edward Mosby says Sharni has consistently demonstrated both leadership and a commitment to continuous improvement.
“In the very early days you were instrumental in the Informal Carer and Support Person initiatives. You spearheaded several important projects, including comprehensive clinical audits and process improvements, and demonstrated outstanding insight, knowledge and analytical skills.
Congratulations on your appointment to Clinic Lead. I look forward very much to your influence across the organisation in this role.”
Workforce Lead Ros Mann says Sharni’s journey represents exactly what Wakai Waian Healing hopes to achieve by investing in its people.
“Sharni joined us in 2021 and has grown with us through many different roles while studying to become our first Clinical Registrar Program employee, and now our Clinical Lead. We are incredibly proud of everything she has achieved and grateful for the leadership she brings to our team every day.”
For Sharni, however, the journey has always been about something much bigger than professional success.
“My motivations for becoming a clinical psychologist lie within my passion for First Nations health and wellbeing,” she says.
“I am working towards creating my own pathway for advocacy, just like my aunties. I truly believe becoming a clinical psychologist is an avenue for advocacy, specifically to advocate for mob to access culturally safe psychology services, to promote cultural competency in the mental health field and to advocate for my community.”
Over the past five years, Sharni says she has experienced significant professional and personal growth.
“During my time at Wakai Waian Healing, I have undergone not only significant growth as a professional, but also significant personal growth as a mother, a Barada and Kabalbara woman, and a community member. That has transformed my understanding of healing.”
Those beliefs now shape her leadership.
Sharni believes healing is grounded in traditional ways of knowing, being and doing, alongside trauma-informed psychological practice. She often reflects on a phrase shared by CEO Edward Mosby that has become central to her own philosophy.
“We have what it takes to heal.”
“To me,” she says, “that is the essence of self-determination. Mob working with mob, using our ways of yarning, storytelling and healing.”
As Clinical Lead, Sharni now oversees clinic operations and clinical governance across the organisation while continuing to work alongside communities throughout Queensland, including supporting communities on Mornington Island during a period of profound grief and loss.
Even in the most challenging circumstances, colleagues describe her as calm, thoughtful and deeply committed to walking alongside people with compassion and cultural respect.
Her appointment also represents an important milestone for Indigenous leadership in psychology.
As the first clinician to progress through Wakai Waian Healing’s Clinical Registrar Program into a senior leadership position, Sharni is helping create a pathway for future Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander psychologists to follow.
Colleague Jhai Bartley says her impact reaches far beyond what can ever be measured.
“Half a decade is a huge milestone. Your commitment to your work, family and life is an inspiration. You can’t easily quantify the lives you’ve touched with the work you’ve done for our communities. Thank you for all your hard work, dedication and support.”
Looking ahead, Sharni’s vision remains firmly focused on community.
“My vision extends beyond individual therapy,” she says.
“It encompasses a broader healing movement within our communities. I aspire to model what it means for mob to look after mob, encouraging self-determination without external interference. It is less about therapy in the conventional sense and more about a shared journey of healing and growth.”
As Wakai Waian Healing marks Sharni’s five-year anniversary, her story stands as a reminder that investing in Indigenous leadership creates lasting change, not only for organisations, but for families, communities and future generations.
Congratulations, Sharni, and thank you for everything you continue to bring to Wakai Waian Healing and to the communities we are privileged to serve.