Associate Professor Yvonne Clark

Qualifications

PhD, MA (Clinical Psychology), BA (Hons Psychology)

Biography

A/Prof Yvonne Clark is a Kokatha/Wirangu woman whose family is originally from the west coast and desert regions in South Australia. She has lived on Kaurna country for most of her life. She has worked primarily within the Aboriginal community in South Australia and is a clinically endorsed AHPRA registered psychologist for 29 years with a MA and PhD in Psychology. Yvonne has extensive experience in clinical, community and academic psychology within the government, private, university and non-profit sector. In many of her roles she has worked mainly with and advocated for children, adolescents and their families. Yvonne was awarded her PhD in 2017, on lateral violence within the Aboriginal community in Adelaide, SA and has continued her interest and work in this topic.

A/Prof Clark commenced in SAHMRI in 2018 and is currently the Co-lead of the Aboriginal Communities and Families Health Research Alliance (ACRA). She has been on many projects and has been awarded various NHMRC research grants within ACRA. Yvonne has received two NHMRC investigator grants: an Early learning (EL1) from January 2020 to December 2024, for research titled "Improving wellbeing and preventing lateral violence in the Aboriginal community in SA: Investing in our young"; and an EL2 from January 2025 to December 2030, titled “ Investing in the early years to improve social and emotional wellbeing of Aboriginal parents and young people”. This follow up is to improve their social and emotional wellbeing and service access to help alleviate stressors. In 2025 Yvonne was awarded the Sandra Eades award for best 2024 Indigenous grant application.

She has researched with the Past by Nurturing the Future (HPNF) project (University of Melbourne and was based in SAHMRI), aiming to develop strategies for Aboriginal perinatal parents who have experienced trauma. She currently leads various NHMRC research projects that include multifaceted research in “ICARE” that will provide cultural and strength-based tools and support during pregnancy and the early years to empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families in SA and Western Australia; and the “Care and Connect Pathways” project focusing on the intergenerational connectivity approach to wellbeing. She is also an investigator on the cohort study the “Aboriginal Families Study” within ACRA.

A/Prof Clark is a fellow of the Australian Psychological Society (APS) and is co-chair of the APS Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People and Psychology Interest group. She is a founding member of and currently one of the Directors with the Australian Indigenous Psychologists Association (AIPA).

She is a mid-career researcher and in 2024 was awarded the SAHMRI mid-career award. She publishes widely on various topics related to Indigenous peoples, psychology, mental health, systems and access, social and emotional wellbeing, attachment, lateral violence, pregnancy, families, children and young people and education.