Fay Carter lived on Cummeragunja Mission until the age of four when many Aborigines walked off the Mission due to harsh conditions. Carter was then reared by her grandmother Priscilla James at The Flats which was located on the banks of the Goulburn River, an area which flooded regularly.
She attended to high school in Echuca but left halfway through second form to work. At the age of eighteen Carter married and had two children. Two years after they married, Carter and her husband bought a service station and a snack bar and worked long hours to make the business work.
After moving to Melbourne with her family, Carter was employed as a Field Officer with the Aborigines Advancement League and then completed a twelve month Welfare Course at the Watsonia Welfare Institute. Carter continued to be involved in Aboriginal Welfare and has worked with the Aboriginal Community Elders Service. Also known as Aunty Fay Carter, she is a Yorta Yorta and Dja Dja Wurrung Elder
