Chief Investigator

Professor Laura Miller is based at the Australian Catholic University in Brisbane, on Turrbal and Jagara country. Laura is an occupational therapist with over 20 years of clinical experience working with children with disabilities and their families. Laura has worked in Perth WA, London UK, and Brisbane, QLD and has also worked with organisations and families in Bhutan, Vietnam, and Timor. She is deeply committed to empowering caregivers and enabling children, families, and communities. Laura’s research interests focus on motivation, engagement, caregiver empowerment, and innovative models of service delivery.

Chief Investigator

Professor Christine Imms, from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and the University of Melbourne, is an occupational therapist with a specialisation in paediatric rehabilitation. With experience working in both Canada and Australia, Christine is passionate about supporting the participation of children with disabilities and their families. She strongly believes in collaborative research that involves the people who will benefit from it the most.

Parent Partner

Rose Babic is one of our incredible Parent Partners on the ENVISAGE team and has firsthand experience as a parent raising a child with a complex neurodisability. Her personal journey has inspired her to work with families to access essential support services. Rose collaborates in various peer support networks and community practice networks, providing invaluable insights and guidance.

National Project Manager

Colleen Tompkins is ENVISAGE-Families National Project Manager with a wealth of experience spanning both the engineering and health sectors. Throughout her career, she has successfully managed diverse projects, including centre fitouts for headspace and school construction initiatives. Her role as Operations Manager at a paediatric therapy centre provided her invaluable exposure to the NDIS and introduced her to a myriad of wonderful families. This experience equipped her with a comprehensive understanding of the challenges and needs within the community.

In addition to her professional expertise, Colleen brings a personal commitment to this role, as a parent with lived experience of raising a child with cerebral palsy. This unique perspective fuels her passion for making a positive impact and shaping a better world for other parents facing similar challenges. Having participated in the ENVISAGE-Families program in 2018 and contributed to Phase 1 of the Service Provider program, she has witnessed firsthand the value of the Envisage initiative. Colleen is thrilled at the prospect of continuing her journey with Envisage, leveraging her skills and experiences to contribute meaningfully to the program’s mission.

National Service Delivery Implementation Lead

Kerry Britt brings innovative perspectives and a passion for making a positive impact on the lives of children with disabilities. Kerry is investigating service provision in the disability sector and is currently completing her PhD titled ‘ENVISAGE-SP: Creating opportunities to change how service providers think, talk about and approach childhood disability’. Kerry is a physiotherapist with over 20 years of experience working with children and families in a range of setting in Australia and overseas.

National Service Delivery Coordinator

Janice McRandal is the National Service Delivery Coordinator.

Janice comes to Envisage after many years researching and teaching in the humanities, including disability studies. She has three great kids, including a five-year-old with disability. Janice is passionate about caring for carers and teaching and learning in the disability space.

National Training Manager

Bridget O’Connor, our ENVISAGE National Training Manager, is a postdoctoral fellow at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and a dedicated Paediatric Physiotherapist. With extensive clinical experience, Bridget has a deep interest in supporting families new to the experience of raising a child with a disability.

Project Officer

Miriam works across multiple projects through the University of Melbourne and Healthy Trajectories, including as Project Officer for ENVISAGE. She lives and works mostly from a small town in regional Victoria on Taungurung land, where she is raising two children.

Miriam has a background in physiotherapy, with many varied work experiences with children and families across rural and metro regions of Victoria, Western Australia and New South Wales. She is also parent of a child with Kabuki syndrome. Like many others in the ENVISAGE team, wearing multiple hats allows her to bring together professional and personal experience and passion to support parents and service providers.

National Evaluation Project Officer

Eduardo Duarte Machado is the National Evaluation Project Officer for ENVISAGE. Originally from Brazil, he is based at the Australian Catholic University in Brisbane, on Turrbal and Jagara country. Eduardo is a dedicated paediatric physiotherapist with a passion for early intervention and inclusion. He is a final-year PhD candidate at the Australian Catholic University, researching the inclusion of children with cerebral palsy in community dance programs. Passionate about supporting families and enhancing the well-being of children with disabilities, Eduardo enjoys outdoor activities and spending quality time with family and friends.

National Special Projects Coordinator

Diane is the National Special Projects Coordinator for ENVISAGE, bringing over 15 years experience in project management and strategic communications, with a strong foundation in the tertiary education sector. Her career reflects a commitment to collaboration, transparency, and delivering meaningful outcomes through innovative program coordination and stakeholder engagement.

Beyond her professional achievements, Diane draws on her lived experience as a parent of two children, including supporting a child with a disability. This personal journey has deepened her understanding of the challenges families face and inspired her dedication to ENVISAGE’s mission.

National Communications Officer

Shannon is a wife and mother to three young children, based in Brisbane at the Australian Catholic University. Her experience in leadership, administration, marketing, growing leaders and volunteer teams - has all been a part of her time as a local church pastor in Brisbane and the City of Moreton Bay, over the last decade. At the core of all she does, Shannon is passionate about people feeling seen, heard, valued and living empowered to live a flourishing life. 

National Administrative and Finance Officer

Jenny provides finance and administrative support for ENVISAGE and comes to us with many years of administration experience having worked in the higher Education sector for almost 20 years.

She has worked with various community groups and volunteer programs whilst in her role as Community Engagement Officer and is excited to be supporting such a meaningful program.

International Investigator

We are very fortunate to have Professor Peter Rosenbaum on our team, a renowned developmental paediatrician and health services researcher at CanChild, McMaster University in Canada. With over 45 years of experience, Peter brings a wealth of expertise in supporting families of children with impairments. Professor Rosenbaum’s special interests lie in exploring how services can be offered to families, promoting parent and family wellbeing.

International team member

Since joining McMaster University in 2005 as Research Assistant, Debbie Hughes has worked on various paediatric research projects – at McMaster’s Offord Centre for Child Studies on a transition to school study for children with special needs, on a neonatal study, and in Psychiatry in the field of child and youth mental health. Since 2019, Debbie has been pleased to be working with CanChild and Australian colleagues on the ENVISAGE Families and ENVISAGE-SP teams. She can be reached at envisage@mcmaster.ca

Post-Doctoral Fellow, and Assistant Professor at McMaster University

Andrea Cross, a Post-Doctoral Fellow, and Assistant Professor at McMaster University, specialises in patient and public engagement in research, online training, and implementation science. Andrea’s passion lies in involving patients and their families as partners in research and ensuring that their perspectives are integrated into the development of effective interventions.