Our staff are leading the way in holistic therapy and are committed to seeing your child, and your family thrive on the journey.
David has 25 years’ experience working within the education, early childhood intervention & family support sectors. He brings passion & commitment along with a strategic approach to growth & development to deliver high quality services that support children and families to reach their full potential
Mel is an experienced finance leader and is committed to supporting Biala achieve its strategic objectives and ultimately it's mission of making a positive difference in the lives of young children and their families.
Claudia is a psychologist with over 15 years of experience working alongside children and families and has been in leadership roles in community organisations for almost 10 years. She is passionate about providing services that are community-based and accessible to help children and families thrive.
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Leanne is an experienced Finance Administrator with a background encompassing roles in the banking and small business sectors.
Jenna is a paediatric occupational therapist who has completed further training in assessment and strategies for sensory processing difficulties in children at the SPD Foundation in Denver, USA.
Stacey enjoys working with children and their families to reach their goals. She loves supporting them to develop the skills and confidence they need to participate in activities that are important to them.
A paediatric Occupational Therapist who has a Graduate Certificate in Developmental Trauma and has a strong interest in working with young children and their families who have experienced trauma.
Tara is an Occupational Therapist who is passionate about working with children of all ages and their families. She is a qualified Yoga Teacher with further training in Yoga/Yoga Therapy for kids.
Rachael is passionate about supporting children and their families to reach their full potential. She enjoys working with children and families to identify what's most important to them, setting goals together and having fun along the way!
Alex is a paediatric Occupational Therapist who enjoys working with children and their families. She is passionate about supporting children to develop skills to actively engage in their everyday activities. Alex focuses on their strengths and interests and has a family-led approach to her therapy.
James is a paediatric Occupational Therapist who enjoys working with children and families to promote their independence and set them up for the future. James is passionate about aquatic OT and loves to see children develop in an aquatic environment.
Katelyn is passionate about supporting children and their families to achieve their unique goals. She also enjoys learning from the children and families she works with and building confidence and independence along the way.
Zoe is a paediatric occupational therapist who loves to support families and children to develop skills to participate in everyday life. She loves to focus on families’ strengths and special interests.
Abbey is an Occupational Therapist who loves working with children and their families to reach their goals. Abbey is passionate about working collaboratively to enable children and families to engage in meaningful occupations.
Lauren is enthusiastic about collaborating with children and their families to support participation in meaningful activities. She has a special interest in sensory regulation and is qualified as an integrative dance instructor.
Tesharnie enjoys working with children of all ages to help them reach their goals while having fun along the way! She has special interest areas of toilet training and fine motor skills.
Lilian recently graduated from the Australian Catholic University. She is a strong believer that, if given the most appropriate support, every child has the potential to succeed, and is passionate about assisting children and families in the pursuit of this.
My name is Maddy, I recently graduated from Australian Catholic University. I enjoy working with children and their families supporting them to participate in their meaningful occupations. I think it is important to have a collaborative and client centred approach to achieve the best outcomes.
Cedric is dedicated and motivated in collaborating with families to support children's growth and learning which provide strong foundation for them to succeed. He focuses on the interests and strengths to establish best practice in therapy.
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Tom studied MSc in Occupational Therapy in England before moving to Australia. He has been an OT for three years, working in mental health, surgical and COVID wards, and in a paediatric setting. Tom is passionate about helping people, reach their potential and engage in meaningful occupations.
Amelia is an Occupational Therapist who is passionate about helping to enable children to be able to participate in and perform the occupations they want to. She has a special interest in ADHD and is qualified as an integrative dance instructor.
I am a current ACU student studying occupational therapy and work as a disability support worker outside of Biala. I have a passion for working with children and their families and ensure each child is provided with as much opportunity to grow and thrive in their youth.
My name is Jacob & I am an Allied Health Assistant currently studying occupational therapy at Australian Catholic University. I value building relationships with clients and family members in therapy & believe that it is significant in providing the best possible support.
Bella has 3 years’ experience working with young children as a support worker and understands the importance of developing relationships with both children and their families. Bella is passionate about utilising play-based therapy and has a particular interest for sensory approaches.
Mony is an OT student with a strong interest in working with children and their families to achieve their meaningful goals and participate in everyday life. With a background in biomedical science she hopes to apply her knowledge on neurodevelopment to support early childhood learning & development.
Nicole is currently studying Occupational Therapy at Monash University and has prior experience as a disability support worker and an inclusion support worker. Nicole thrives on seeing children achieve their goals and reaching their full potential.
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Poppy is a 4th year OT student with several years’ experience working with children as a disability support worker and swimming instructor. She is passionate about bringing fun and play into therapy and values the importance of developing meaningful relationships with children and their families.
Susan has worked in settings such as schools, early intervention & public health. She specialises in eating/feeding skill development, early language & speech and aims to work collaboratively with caregivers to set achievable goals supporting children to confidently apply new skills in everyday life
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I am passionate about seeing children develop their own independence and communicate with the people around them. I love working with children to see the excitement when the realise that they can do something new.
Laura is a dedicated and passionate Speech Pathologist who works holistically with children and their families to support and empower them to reach their full potential. Laura utilises play-based therapy to engage and tailors programs to each individual child’s needs.
Nicola has had over 10 years' experience working with children and their families to identify and achieve their goals. She is passionate about using a child’s strengths and interests to develop communication and maximise participation in everyday activities.
Mariam is a Speech Pathologist who is passionate about supporting children of all ages to reach their communication goals. She enjoys working with families to deliver evidence-based therapy incorporating the child's interests.
Anthea works closely with children and their families to facilitate effective skill development and implementation of recommendations in their home, community and educational setting. Anthea enjoys seeing children and families achieve their goals and become effective communicators.
Jack is studying Speech Pathology at ACU and is passionate about building relationships with families and ensuring that each child’s greatest interest can be shared with the world. Jack has experience teaching English overseas as an additional language.
Sarah adopts a strengths-based and child-centred approach to art therapy. She aims to provide a nurturing space for clients to express themselves freely through the art making process and learn new coping skills to enhance well-being.
Julie has worked in Early Childhood for over 20 years, specialising in inclusion and disability for over 10 years. She holds a strong philosophy for nurturing play-based learning, where children are seen as active participants to develop to their full potential.
Karyn’s passion is helping families understand how best to support their child to achieve their full potential. She has a special interest in Autism and believes that all children learn best through child-led, interest-based play.
Donna is an Early Childhood Teacher and has been teaching for over 30 years. She has worked in junior primary school and kindergarten during this time. She is passionate about providing children the opportunity to succeed and learn through developing on their strengths and abilities.
Sue is an Early Childhood Teacher with extensive experience in the early years sector across a variety of sectors. Sue is passionate about supporting young children to achieve their full potential and to this end she strives to engage with children and their families in a warm and respectful manner.
Tahlia is passionate about supporting children to reach their full potential. Tahlia is committed to taking an individualised, strengths-based and family-centered approach.
Anna is an experienced psychotherapist with is a particular interest in childhood trauma and is passionate about exploring ways to creatively engage with children.
Elsha has over 10 years’ experience and loves working with families to help them recognise their strengths and increase their confidence through building a safe, respectful therapeutic relationship
Melinda has a passion to help families overcome feeding difficulties, to enjoy stress-free mealtimes, nurture positive eating behaviours and feel confident their child is getting the nutrition they need to grow and thrive. She also has a special interest in food allergies and gut health.
Philo has been with Biala eight years, helping out with therapy groups, 3 year old kinder and holiday programs and where ever is needed.
Margot is the Executive Assistant and provides comprehensive support to the CEO, Board of Directors and Executive Leadership Team.
Cathie is an experienced Finance Officer with over 8 years in the Health/Community Services sector. She has an interest in progressive & forward thinking ideas to support the organisation & families.
Rachel has extensive experience with administration tasks, including client managing, communication and organisation. She enjoys working at Biala with the friendly staff and alongside our Biala families.
Kaye is one of our team of Administrators who provide front office support and support to families.
Petula is one of our team of Administrators who provide front office support and support to families.
Meet the dedicated Biala Board Members
Jinny has a Masters of Social Work and over 35 years’ experience as a social worker, manager, CEO and volunteer on not-for-profit Boards. She served as a member of two Government Tribunals, was an elected Councillor and is now undertaking a Masters of Research.
Yvonne has extensive leadership experience across strategic planning, finance, operations, sales/marketing, compliance & technology/Innovation. She is an experienced non-executive director both in the private and public sectors, and recently served as a director on a regional Victorian water board.
Michael has extensive financial leadership and strategic expertise, leading to business success in various industries. As a seasoned CFO, Fellow of CPA Australia and a non-executive Board member, Michael is keen to contribute and provide astute governance in his endeavour to make a positive impact.
Kerryn is a qual. lawyer with expertise in providing practical, effective, value-driven solutions across the healthcare sector. She is committed to excellence and innovation to achieve exceptional outcomes for all particularly in the health workforce, systems & processes and healthcare operations.
Astrid has a background in medical research. She is a qualified lawyer with expertise in intellectual property, commercial law, governance, risk management and disability rights. She has lived experience with disability and is passionate about helping people with disabilities access apt supports.
Joanne has extensive professional experience in government operational service delivery particularly in the disability sector. She has lived experience with disability and is passionate and enthusiastic in supporting individuals/families to access support & services to achieve best possible outcomes
Sharon is a marketing, strategy and business development executive with considerable experience working with various sectors in Australia, New Zealand, UK and Asia including fast moving consumer goods, business to business and retail. She is passionate about philanthropy and creating social impact.
Mario has had a wide-ranging career in corporate finance. His focus has been on strategic thinking and direction for medium to large organisations. He is now seeking to share his experience and knowledge to ensure the delivery of efficient and effective services to communities in need.
Caroline has a professional background in strategic marketing that spans the public, private and non-profit sectors in both the UK and Australia, including children’s agencies. She believes in the power of good communication to support both the organisation and the children and families we support.
Biala Peninsula values your privacy and the need to keep your information secure. For more information you can view our Privacy Policy and Privacy Collection Notice, which sets out how we collect and deal with your personal information here
