Kathryn Stoll

Department of Health

Kathie grew up in Central Australia, and ‘came home’ to work in Alice Springs in 1990 due to family reasons. During this time, Kathie was the sole occupational therapist (OT) for NT Health in the Central Australia and Barkly regions – covering 2/3 of the land area of the NT, an impossible job, especially for a young therapist with limited support!

This included all ages from babies to old people, and a huge range of clinical areas, from burns to equipment prescription to hand therapy to children’s development. Across all settings - Alice Springs urban area, Alice Springs Hospital, Tennant Creek, all remote communities in these areas (to the WA, Qld and SA borders), all schools in these  areas, and running a specialist Seating Clinic.

After a few years Kathie moved to the newly created ‘Remote OT’ job for Central Australia, and was a key member of the ‘Very Very Remote Allied Health Professionals’ group - providing networking, support and learning in the specialist area of service provision to remote Indigenous communities. This was intense but rewarding work, and Kathie still has strong connections with friends and colleagues from that time. This work helped lay the foundation for remote area therapy practice today.

Kathie’s remote work also included a period with the Darwin Remote Team. She later moved to Darwin permanently in 1997 and commenced her current role in the Children's Development Team. This amazing and dynamic team works with children and their families to support children’s development, and help families to work on goals that are important for their child and the family.

Kathie has chosen to focus her learning and career development on expanding her clinical skills and expertise in therapy with children, rather than taking the management path. Examples of additional training include assessment and therapy for young children with cerebral palsy, mealtimes therapy, and conducting diagnostic assessments such as for autism.

She enjoys being an ‘on-the-ground’ clinician, and loves working with children and their families - it’s an honour and privilege to work with so many wonderful families, who have taught her so much over the years.