Keira Reid is the 2025 recipient of the APS Bendi Lango bursary.
Keira Reid
Keira’s Aboriginal heritage traces back to her Tasmanian ancestors. Like many families, she has limited recorded information about her ancestry due to the lasting impacts of Australia’s colonial history on Indigenous communities. Despite this, Keira has always felt a deep pride in her heritage and continues to seek a stronger connection with her culture and family history.
Keira’s life has been profoundly shaped by an early experience of trauma and ongoing mental health challenges. While this caused significant hardship, it also cultivated deep resilience, empathy, and a passion for helping others heal. Through her own therapeutic journey, she developed a fascination with the human mind and a desire to support those who have endured similar pain - particularly teenagers and young adults.
Her commitment to helping others has guided her through several formative roles, including seven years as a youth leader and mentor at Wynnum Baptist Church, and a year as a Girls’ Dormitory Supervisor at Ironbark Outdoor Education. These experiences allowed her to support young people through personal challenges, fostering confidence, emotional awareness, and growth. It was through these experiences that Keira realised her desire to be a psychologist.
Since beginning her psychology studies in 2022, Keira has remained deeply dedicated to her professional development. She is now completing a Master of Educational and Developmental Psychology at the Queensland University of Technology, where she enjoys working with clients, continues to refine her therapeutic skills, and thrives to graduate as a Registered Psychologist. Keira is also in the process of co-authoring a journal article on stress-related growth with her Honours Supervisor, Olivia Miller.
Outside of her studies, Keira finds joy in travelling, reading, and having a coffee with her friends, family, and dog. Looking ahead, she hopes to work medium-term within disadvantaged or rural populations, particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Keira aspires to integrate her professional expertise with her cultural heritage by offering trauma-informed, culturally sensitive care. Through her work, she hopes to give back to community, honour her ancestors, and contribute to the healing and empowerment of future generations.
The APS bursary is funded through generous donations from APS members. Since the launch of the Bendi Lango initiative in 2006, twenty Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students have been supported in their postgraduate psychology studies.
More about the Bendi Lango initiative, including previous bursary recipients and how to make an online donation.