Clara Coulthard was born on Lilla Creek Station in the Northern Territory but was removed from her family in 1934. Coulthard was first sent to the United Aborigines Mission at Oodnadatta, then to Colebrook Home located at first in Quorn in regional South Australia and then relocated to Eden Hills in suburban Adelaide.
Although she never saw her mother again, in 1974 Coulthard met her grandfather. Coulthard trained as a teacher and was instrumental in the establishment of Indigenous rangers in national parks.
Coulthard has been an active member of the South Australian Aboriginal Elders' Council.
Coulthard's story was recorded by the National Library of Australia for the Bringing Them Home oral history project and appeared in the associated publication Many Voices: Reflections on experiences of Indigenous child separation edited by Doreen Mellor and Anna Haebich (2002).
