Who we are at ACLTA

Tammy Young works at Royal Children's Hospital. She has been a CLT for 9 years. Prior to this I worked in early childhood services for over 20 years across a range of early childhood education and intervention within kindergarten, community health settings and TAFE. I am passionate about family centre practice and including the child’s voice within the hospital setting.

I am the current treasurer for the ACLTA. I have worked as a Child Life Therapist at the Children's Hospital at Westmead for the past 10 years across a variety of caseloads, with a particular focus on supporting children with cardiac conditions. I enjoy working with the executive team to support Child Life Therapists currently working within the field and to explore ways of advancing our profession in the future.

Hi! I’m Kate Strickland and I have been working as a Child Life Therapist for the past 9 years. I began my career working at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne where I worked predominately in the areas of Cardiac and PICU. I have a background in Occupational Therapy (Mental Health) and also in Education. I started my own organisation called Healing Hearts Beyond and currently provide community-based Child Life Therapy in Melbourne. 

I work as a sole practitioner Child Life Therapist on the Child and Adolescent ward at Royal North Shore Hospital located in St Leonards, Sydney and am the current Membership Coordinator. I have been a Play/ Child Life Therapist for 19 years. I commenced my role at RNSH in January 2018 and prior to this worked at Sydney Children’s Hospital Randwick in 2002.

I am very excited to have joined the ACLTA committee to learn and work alongside professionals with the same passions - helping children. I am very lucky to be working as a Child Life Therapist at Royal Children's Hospital in the Medical Imaging department. I have a Bachelor of Early Childhood Education and then went on to complete my Masters in Sensory Disability. From there over the past ten years I have worked in a variety of early childhood settings and with Ronald McDonald House Charities in Newcastle. I have always wanted to become a Child Life Therapist and I am very much enjoying the demands of the role and how rewarding it is helping children in their time of need.

I have worked as a Child Life Therapist at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead for the past 8 years across a variety of clinical caseloads. I am currently working in the clinical areas of rehabilitation and palliative care. As the Secretary of the Association I support the effective functioning of the management committee and I look forward to assisting in the further development and promotion of the profession.

Michelle has been working as a Child Life Therapist since 2000. She worked in a range of clinical areas, and later as head of department at Sydney Children’s Hospital. Michelle relocated to John Hunter Children’s Hospital in 2011 where she leads the amazing team of Music, Art, & Child Life Therapists. Michelle’s current clinical areas are Paediatric Emergency and the burns and wounds clinic. Michelle is finishing her studies in the Master of Play Therapy at Deakin University, and has a passion for supporting children, young people, and family to feel empowered in their healthcare.