• Susan is the Managing director at Opel Collective, and a registered PBS practitioner.

• She is passionate about the rights of West Australians with disabilities.

• Since moving to Western Australia in 1990 Susan has worked with West Australians with disabilities as principal speech pathologist and a positive behaviour support practitioner.

• She has held executive and senior management roles with the WA state government and several disability service providers before joining the Opel Collective.

• Susan led the development of the Positive Behaviour Support Framework in Western Australia and has been influential across Australia in numerous policy and management roles.

• Susan continues to provide consultancy services to many organisations supporting people with a disability in Western Australia. She is a strong advocate of person-centred approaches and individualised solutions.

• She has a Bachelor of Arts, in social science and psycholinguistics and is a Licentiate of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists

Contact phone: 0431 249 412

Contact e-mail: sue@opelwa.com.au

• Ruth is one of our directors at Opel Collective.

• She is an AHPRA registered physiotherapist and is currently working as a specialist support coordinator.

• Ruth brings over 40 years’ experience across the United Kingdom and Western Australia within disability and health sectors; both as a clinician and as an executive manager.

• A highly respected physiotherapist and allied health leader, she has built a distinguished career spanning clinical practice, service development and strategic management.

• Her extensive expertise allows her to navigate complex support needs, advocate for high quality outcomes, and deliver personal-centred solutions within the NDIS framework.

• A person with lived experience of disability, she understands great quality service is about listening to those she supports and not making assumptions about what people need.

• With twenty years experience working in Positive Behaviour Support across Australia and abroad, Caroline is an integral asset to Opel's Behaviour Support team.

• To provide the best service possible to her clients, Caroline believes in cross-disciplinary collaboration so everyone involved in delivering services can understand the complexity of a client's situation, and work together to develop innovative and person-centred support strategies.

• In addition to Caroline's lived insight in supporting family members with disability, her thoughtful approach to providing services is the result of a career spanning acute hospital settings, primary care consultancy, community services, government and not-for-profit roles managing multidisciplinary teams.

• Caroline's expertise has also fostered a deep appreciation for the role of professional supervision in the sector to mentor emerging practitioners to reach their full potential and equip staff for success through the industry's constant changes.

• Living and working her values of authenticity, engagement, collaboration, and compassion, Caroline's commitment to supporting the community and people with disability motivates her to volunteer in her free time. When she does have a moment for herself, Caroline likes to read, garden, travel, and spend time with friends and family.

• David is a registered psychologist with AHPRA and former clinical member of the Australian Association of Family Therapy (AAFT). 

• David has worked as a psychologist for State and Federal Government and private sectors and has 20 plus years’ experience within the disability sector, including vocational rehabilitation and return to work programs, prison counselling services, diagnostician for intellectual disability and over 10 years in behaviour support. David has worked with a wide range of people and ages with varying levels of capabilities, capacity and disability, often presenting with comorbid diagnoses of autism, intellectual disability, ADHD, and anxiety.,

• David has an open, respectful and strength-based approach to working with individuals and families. His goal is to support individuals and families in identifying their hopes and goals and to provide accessible psychological strategies that are tailored to the needs of the people he sees.

• David completed his Honours degree in psychology in London. Since graduating he has completed a diploma in anatomy and physiology and a post graduate course in systemic and family therapy, foundation, and advanced levels.

• Esta is a registered psychologist with an interest in early childhood, perinatal and infant mental health and positive behaviour support. 

• Esta is especially passionate about working cross-culturally and supporting individuals living with a disability as well as their family and wider community. 

• Esta has worked in the disability sector for over 15 years and combined her professional interests of disability and early intervention through a Masters’ Degree in Perinatal and Infant Mental Health, with her research focussing on the experiences of therapists delivering disability services in WA.  

• Drawing from her own experience of a loved one living with a disability, Esta brings warmth, compassion and understanding to her practice.

• She believes that everybody has a right to dreams, hope and a happy life and remains a strong advocate of person-centre practice and supporting individuals’ rights to reach their potential.

• When she is not working, Esta loves to spend time with her young family, gardening, and growing her indoor plant collection!

Professional qualifications

• Masters Degree in Perinatal and Infant Mental Health, Post Graduate Diploma in Psychology, Bachelor Arts Psychology

Which areas you are able to cover:

• Central Metro, East, Swan Area and North of the River

• Louise has been an occupational therapist for 18 years and worked across a range of settings in Australia and the United Kingdom, including community mental health, neurorehabilitation, and disability. She loved each of the different roles and the varied experiences they provided.

• Louise enjoys building relationships with participants, their families, and other members of the team. She strongly believes the best therapy is the result of a collaborative approach involving shared decision-making, coordination, and cooperation.

• She has a strong interest in social justice, access, and inclusion and always endeavours to promote fairness for individuals and the wider community. She is currently a member of the Access and Inclusion Advisory Group (AIAG) for the City of Belmont and a board member for Fishability. She is also a member of Occupational Therapy Australia

Areas of Interest

• Neurodevelopment disabilities- People who live with autism, intellectual disability, Fragile-X, Prader Willi, ADHD.

• Psychosocial disabilities-People who live with schizophrenia, anxiety, mood disorders.

• Acquired disabilities- People who live with brain injuries.

• Assistive Technology- Particularly AT for people who live with cognitive impairments and require it due to difficulties with planning, organisation, and memory.

Where?

• Within 30-minute drive from the Perth CBD.

• Niki is an advanced Behaviour Support Practitioner who works with the belief that behind every behaviour is a story, and a need waiting to be understood.

• Empathetic and compassionate in her approach, she is passionate about helping

• people feel safe, heard, and empowered, placing the person and their supports at the

• centre each step of the way.

• Niki’s experience is drawn from her roles as an Occupational Therapist and Behaviour Practitioner and her postgraduate studies in positive behaviour supports,

• She is  experienced in working with children through to older adults experiencing behaviours of concern, to help  improve quality of life.

Niki can help by

• Supporting emotional regulation and communication

• Supporting the reduction of behaviours of concern and fade out of restrictive practices

• Behaviour support plan development

Where?

• Niki works across the Perth Eastern suburbs; Midland, Kalamunda, and surrounding suburbs

• Nicole is a Certified Practicing Speech Pathologist with over 20 years experience in child development and the disability sector. She applied this experience to become certified as an NDIS Specialist Behaviour Support Practitioner, developing advanced skills in this field over the last 5 years.

She provides

• Functional behaviour assessments and assessments to support NDIS funding for Positive Behaviour Support

• Development and implementation of high-quality, holistic behaviour support plans.

• Facilitating a person-centred and trauma-informed team approach

• Communication assessments to support functional capacity assessment, goal setting and funding applications.

• Bespoke training including schools, clinical teams and families.

• Clinical supervision and mentoring.

• Nicole is a Neurodiverse parent of 2 adopted children.

• She has a special interest in trauma in the context of neurodiversity, adoption and foster care.

• She has extensive experience with and am passionate about clinical supervision, coaching, training, leadership, and advocacy.

Where?

• She offers services in the Northern suburbs surrounding Wanneroo.  North Banksia Grove West to Mullaloo South to Marangaroo and East to Landsdale.       

• As Opel's executive and administrative assistant, Kayla is passionate about helping staff and clients to navigate the NDIS requirements as easily as possible. She leverages her background in sociology and support work to foster an inclusive, supportive, and responsible workplace. 

• Emma holds a Post Grad Dip in Psychology (Murdoch) and a Bachelor degree in psych/criminology

• She has many years of experience working in the mental health care, vocational rehabilitation and educational settings and has a strong background in disability services.

• Emma provides Positive behaviour support – for children and adults with ASD, down syndrome and other complex neurological, cognitive and developmental disabilities,

• She is highly skilled in a variety of evidence based psychological assessments and therapeutic interventions – educational assessments, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Trauma informed counselling, psychoeducation, parental capacity building and upskilling