In July 2026, Dr Stephanie Fletcher-Lartey was appointed Honorary Consul Designate for Jamaica in Australia, taking on a new role after more than a decade of building and supporting the Jamaican community in the country. The appointment was announced at the Jamaican Association of Australia’s Annual General Meeting by former Honorary Consul Emeritus Professor Diane Austin-Broos.
A proud daughter of Clay Ground, Bamboo, St Ann, Fletcher-Lartey is an epidemiologist and global health specialist who has spent some 17 years in Australia building community and strengthening connections between Jamaicans there and home. She helped establish the JAA, served as its long-standing president and represented Asia and the Pacific on the Global Jamaica Diaspora Council.
From Clay Ground, St. Ann, to Australia
Fletcher-Lartey was born in Clay Ground, a hilltop community in Bamboo, St. Ann.
Her early education included Bezer Basic School, Bamboo Basic School and Bamboo Primary and Junior High. She passed the Common Entrance Examination at age 10 while in Grade 5 and went on to attend St. Hilda’s Diocesan High School in Brown’s Town. She graduated with the Class of 1992.
After high school, she spent a year at Brown’s Town Community College before working at the St. Ann Regional Library in St. Ann’s Bay.
In 1994, she received a Government Scholarship to train as a Public Health Inspector at the West Indies School of Public Health on Slipe Pen Road in Kingston. She graduated in 1997.
Her academic path later took her to the University of the West Indies, Mona, where she earned a Master of Public Health with Distinction in 2007.
The following year, she received an international research scholarship from the University of Technology Sydney. She moved to Australia in 2009 and completed her PhD in Epidemiology between 2009 and 2013.
Building a Home in Australia
Fletcher-Lartey planned to return to Jamaica after her studies, but after starting a family, Australia became home. Wanting to remain connected to Jamaica, she created a Facebook group for Jamaicans in Australasia, who were spread across a large geographic area with few opportunities to connect.
That online community laid the foundation for the Jamaican Association of Australia (JAA). In 2012, as Jamaica celebrated 50 years of Independence, Fletcher-Lartey brought together 10 Jamaicans in Sydney to establish the organisation. As founding president, she helped build the JAA into a network supporting Jamaicans, preserving Jamaican culture and strengthening connections with home.
Reflecting on those early years, Fletcher-Lartey told Jamaicans.com that finding a connection to Jamaica was essential, not only for her but for other Jamaicans adjusting to life in Australia.
“When I first arrived in Australia, finding a connection to home was essential, not just for myself, but for every Jamaican trying to navigate life in Australia.”
A Distinguished Career in Global Public Health
Alongside her community service, Fletcher-Lartey has built a career spanning nearly 30 years in public health across Jamaica, Australia, the Caribbean and Pacific.
An epidemiologist and global health specialist with more than 70 scientific publications, her work has included infectious disease surveillance, research, environmental health and emergency response. Her career has also included work with the World Health Organization (WHO), the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) and Australia’s aid programme in Fiji.
Most recently, she has been involved in research aimed at strengthening the ability of health professionals to evaluate their own workplace programmes and projects.
Recognised for Her Impact
Fletcher-Lartey’s work in public health and community service has earned recognition in Jamaica and internationally.
She is a recipient of Jamaica’s Governor General’s Youth Award for Excellence and the Sanofi Pasteur International Award for Epidemiological Research. In 2026, she received the Voice for Change Award at the Beacon of Hope Mission ceremony in Auckland, New Zealand, recognising her advocacy and commitment to community empowerment.
She was also recently recognised by the Western Sydney Local Health District’s Integrated and Community Health division with its Achievements in Community Excellence Award for Research. The award recognised the evaluation of an innovative programme designed to strengthen staff skills, knowledge and confidence in planning and evaluating workplace projects.
From Diaspora Leadership to Consular Service
Fletcher-Lartey’s appointment as Honorary Consul Designate builds on more than a decade of advocating for Jamaicans in Australia.
In preparation for her new role, she stepped down as president of the Jamaican Association of Australia, handing over leadership of the organisation she had helped build.
As Honorary Consul, Fletcher-Lartey will provide consular assistance to Jamaicans living in and travelling through Australia while helping strengthen relations between Jamaica and Australia. The role also provides an opportunity to promote Jamaican culture and deepen opportunities for trade, investment and other forms of cooperation between the two countries.
For Fletcher-Lartey, the appointment represents a continuation of the work she has already been doing through community and diaspora service, now in an official capacity representing Jamaica.
“I am deeply humbled and honoured by this appointment,” she said following the announcement.
From Clay Ground to Australia, Fletcher-Lartey’s journey has remained closely tied to Jamaica. Her new role now gives her an opportunity to turn that lifelong connection and years of community service into formal representation for the country she still calls home.
What Is Life Like for Jamaicans in Australia?
In a previous episode of Jamaicans to the World, Jamaicans.com founder Xavier Murphy spoke with Jamaican expat Samantha-Kaye Johnston about making a life in Australia. She shares her experience adjusting to the country, its food, culture and people, while staying connected to her Jamaican roots.
Watch the conversation below for a Jamaican’s perspective on life Down Under.
