Australia’s Top End offers unique opportunities for allied health professionals
Laura Morell joined Early Start’s Graduate Program in 2020. At the time, Early Start had four clinics across Australia and has since experienced rapid growth.
Today there are almost 50 clinics providing early intervention therapies and support to children, teenagers and their families.
Laura chose to make the move from Brisbane, where she had worked as a music therapist in private practice, to Early Start’s Northern Territory clinic near Darwin.
She joined as a speech pathology graduate, having been inspired to study further about communication and enable her to take a more holistic approach to therapy.
“There’s great need for allied health professionals in Darwin and I knew the work would be varied and interesting, supporting some of Australia’s most at-risk families.
“The Top End is a melting pot of different cultures and languages from all around the world, and this means we get to work with families with a range of different stories and lived experiences.
“This can bring unique complexities and challenges to the work we do, but also makes it all the more rewarding.”
Leading the way in remote communities
Working with remote communities also appealed to Laura and she became part of Early Start’s allied health team travelling fortnightly to Jabiru.
This is an important part of Early Start’s service delivery in the Northern Territory and Laura has been providing therapy services for the past two years to children in Jabiru, alongside her occupational therapy colleagues.
Early Start also has teams travelling fortnightly to Daly River and the Tiwi Islands.
In 2023, the Jabiru team have been trialling an ‘intensive’ service delivery model where clinicians spend four days in the community, rather than flying in and out in a day.
“This means we’re able to strengthen the impact we have and can provide a more comprehensive level of care by visiting clients at school, day care or at home.
“Early Start is leading best practice service delivery for remote communities and we’ve found this to be a highly-valued model for both clients and clinicians.”
Seeing the strength in teamwork
In her previous role as a music therapist Laura worked as a sole trader which often meant there was limited opportunity for collaboration with other health professionals in the client’s team.
This means she really values being part of Early Start’s multidisciplinary team.
“Working alongside each other in the clinic means that we can best meet our client’s needs.
Learning from our occupational therapists has made me a better speech pathologist, which means I can better support my clients’ needs.
‘At Early Start, we take a very collaborative approach in our team to reach positive outcomes for our families.”
Early Start leaders supportive of new ideas
Early Start’s growth has created leadership pathways – Laura recently became a team leader – and has brought a breadth of valued clinical expertise.
“We can all play a role in the future direction of Early Start. Our leaders are open to new ideas and are prepared to give them a go, so if a clinician brings an idea and shows a willingness to learn and test out a new approach, then they are supported to make this happen.
“Our personal professional development allowance also lets us explore our areas of interest as a clinician.”
Moments that make a difference
Laura is passionate about making life better for her clients and families.
“Helping children to communicate in a way they couldn’t before gives every day a purpose. It’s a joy seeing them grow and able to talk about what they’re feeling, what they need.
“I wouldn’t change my role– or the experience of living in Darwin, which I highly recommend – for anything!”
Early Start Australia is building stronger teams across Australia. Visit our careers site to see if there’s a role that’s right for you.
