Meet the Team

Tania Innes is a Director of Start Smart Tasmania and a Speech Pathologist and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) with more than 25 years of experience working across early intervention, education and private practice in Tasmania and the UK. She holds a Bachelor of Speech Pathology (Honours), a Graduate Certificate in Education and a Diploma of Breastfeeding Management.

Tania's clinical interests include speech sound disorders, stuttering, feeding, infant feeding and orofacial myofunctional therapy. She is passionate about understanding the connections between communication, feeding and early development, and helping families make sense of their child's individual strengths and needs.

Alongside her clinical work, Tania enjoys parent education and working with educators to support children's communication and learning through evidence-informed practice.

Clare Weare is a Director of Start Smart Tasmania and a Dyslexia Consultant with extensive experience supporting students with additional learning needs, alongside their families and educators, in Australia and the UK. She holds a Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood), a Postgraduate Certificate in Leadership and Management in Education, and a Master of Education (Special Education).

Clare previously worked as Director of Studies in a school for students with specific learning disorders, and she currently works part time as a Learning Support Coordinator in a mainstream school. Her clinical and educational interests focus on supporting students with specific learning disorders such as dyslexia and dysgraphia, and she is a strong advocate for collaboration between schools, families and service providers to maximise student learning.

Jennifer Simpson is a qualified teacher, now working as a Literacy Instructor. She holds a Diploma of Teaching and has extensive teaching experience across a variety of grade levels and rural communities.

More recently, Jennifer's professional interests have grown in the area of English, with a particular focus on spelling and reading. She loves seeing the joy in children as they develop as confident, capable readers and writers.

Liz Petty is a Speech Pathologist who joined the profession after a diverse career spanning healthcare, business, agriculture and community service. She holds a Master of Speech Pathology and a Graduate Diploma in Psychological Sciences.

Liz has previously worked as a Registered Nurse and in organisational psychology. Her diverse career has strengthened her belief in the power of allied health and early intervention to help children thrive.

Liz brings a practical, community-focused perspective to her work and is committed to evidence-based, family-centred care that reflects each family's context and goals.

Belinda Waldron is a Speech Pathologist who spent more than 20 years working in education, supporting children and their families, before joining the profession. She holds a Master of Speech Pathology, a Bachelor of Education and a Bachelor of Arts (Psychology).

Belinda has a particular interest in children's speech, language and literacy development, with a passion for helping children become confident communicators.

Belinda believes every child can make meaningful progress when intervention is engaging, evidence-based and tailored to their individual strengths and needs. She enjoys building strong relationships with children and families and creating therapy that is meaningful and empowering.

Emily Graham is a Speech Pathologist who holds a Bachelor of Science (Speech Pathology). She has experience working with both children and adults with speech, language, fluency, communication and feeding needs, across community early intervention, schools and the disability sector.

Emily is passionate about increasing access to therapy services in rural and remote communities, and about providing quality, client-centred care that is guided by the best available clinical evidence.

Olivia Vun is a Speech Pathologist who works with children, adolescents and adults to support confident, effective communication in everyday life. She holds a Bachelor of Applied Science (Speech Pathology) (Honours) and has experience across private practice, schools, disability services, aged care and telehealth.

Olivia's clinical interests include speech and language development, early intervention, literacy, fluency, multimodal communication (including AAC) and swallowing. She is committed to evidence-based, neurodiversity-affirming practice and values close collaboration with clients, families and their broader support networks.

Dr Belinda Jessup is a Speech Pathologist returning to clinical practice after a period working in academia. She holds a Bachelor of Speech Pathology (Honours) and a PhD in Speech Pathology.

Belinda has extensive experience working with children in school settings, and values close collaboration with families, teachers and other professionals to develop practical, strengths-based supports tailored to each child. Her clinical interests include supporting children with a wide range of communication and learning needs, with a particular focus on evidence-informed practice in regional and rural communities.

Alongside her clinical work, Belinda continues to engage in rural health research, focusing on improving access to high-quality services for children and families in regional communities.

Jessica Terry is a Speech Pathologist who holds a Bachelor of Health Science (Speech Pathology), with extensive experience supporting children and families to overcome communication challenges. She has worked across a variety of settings in NSW and Tasmania.

Jessica is passionate about providing quality, client-centred care that is guided by the best available clinical evidence, and enjoys collaborating with families and other professionals to help children reach their goals.

Kate Allen is an Allied Health Assistant with a background in Agricultural Science. She holds a Bachelor of Agricultural Science (Honours), spent many years working in field research before changing careers, and is currently studying a Master of Speech Pathology.

Kate is passionate about evidence-based treatment that looks not just at symptoms, but also at underlying causes, and values collaboration between healthcare professionals to achieve the best outcomes for children and families.

Alysha Chugg is the Administration Officer at Start Smart Tasmania. She graduated with a Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood) and has worked across a range of education and care settings, most recently as an Early Learning teacher in a local primary school.

Alysha is a friendly and organised member of the Start Smart Tasmania team, supporting the smooth running of the clinic and assisting clients and families with their enquiries.

Charlotte Brunning is a Junior Admin Assistant at Start Smart Tasmania. Alongside her university studies, where she is currently completing a Bachelor of Nursing, Charlotte provides administrative support to our team, assisting with tasks such as resource preparation, data management and general practice administration.

She is also the friendly face somtimes behind our admin desk, helping to welcome clients and support the smooth running of the clinic.

Dusty is Start Smart Tasmania's Reading Dog in training. This friendly groodle loves people, cuddles and being part of the action. He is currently working hard on his training so that, when he is ready, he can provide students with a calm, supportive and non-judgemental audience as they practise their reading. Dusty won't mind if a word is tricky or a sentence needs to be read twice — he'll simply listen, enjoy the attention and be there to cheer each reader on. He is already looking forward to meeting the students at Start Smart Tasmania and becoming their four-legged reading buddy!