I’m the Founder of Dyslexia Victoria Support, Australia’s largest parent-led dyslexia support group, and Vice President of SPELD Victoria. I also serve as Chief Advisor to Dystinct Magazine, bringing an Australian parent advocate voice to an international audience.

I know how tough it can be to get real help for a child with learning difficulties, because I’ve lived it. I’m a parent of two young adults with Specific Learning Difficulties, including dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia and ADHD, and over the past decade I’ve supported hundreds of families navigating schools, systems, and paperwork that too often make things harder instead of easier.

I’m not a clinician. I’m a parent advocate who learned to translate reports, write better learning plans, and push for evidence-based teaching. That work has grown into formal training through La Trobe University’s SOLAR Lab, AUSPELD, Fort Hays State University, SPELD Victoria and other providers.

In 2022, Dyslexia Victoria Support led the successful campaign to introduce a Year 1 Phonics Screening Check in Victoria. It was adopted as government policy, and from 2026 the Check will be rolled out statewide to identify early reading difficulties before they become long-term barriers. In 2024, I also gave evidence as a witness to the Legislative Council Inquiry into the State Education System in Victoria, demonstrating the impact organised parent advocacy can have on policy and practice.

My research interests focus on parental experience, educational policy, and evidence-based literacy reform. I am co-author of the 2025 peer-reviewed paper published in Educational and Developmental Psychologist, examining parents’ perspectives on dyslexia assessment in Australia, and I have contributed to multiple policy submissions, including the 2024 Inquiry into the State of Education in Victoria and the 2025 Disability Discrimination Act Review.

My advocacy has been recognised through the 2018 Premier’s Volunteer Champion Award for Teamwork, and featured in What I Need (Nessy) and Wild Things (Sally Rippin). Today, I continue to run the DVS community of more than 12,000 members while working directly with families to prepare for school meetings, strengthen ILPs, apply for SEAs, and secure the supports their children are legally entitled to.

I come from a background in advocacy, libraries, research, and information management, and I use that lens to make sense of reports, systems and legislation so parents don’t have to do it alone. If you’re starting out or feeling stuck, my Parent Advocacy Pocket Guide offers clear, practical steps to help you move forward.

At the heart of my work is a simple goal: no parent should have to fight alone for their child’s right to learn.

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