Service Areas
Six specialisation areas across medico-legal, forensic, and diagnostic neuropsychology.
Medico-legal expertise, clinical depth
I specialise in medico-legal assessments including personal injury, insurance claims, decision making capacity, forensic matters, parenting capacity and desktop assessments such as evaluating previous neuropsychology assessments. This includes appearing as an expert witness in various Courts over the last 15 years. I also conduct clinical assessments for diagnosis and treatment recommendations, and assessments for DSP and NDIS applications.
30+
Years of Specialist Practice
15+
Years appearing as an expert witness
Service Areas
Medico-LegalPersonal Injury Claims
Independent neuropsychological assessment for compensation proceedings
Independent Medical Examinations (IME) to determine any cognitive impairment associated with injuries and how that impairment impacts the client’s capacity to work and engage in domestic, social and recreational activities.
This involves a comprehensive assessment of the client’s cognitive and psychological functioning. Assessments are conducted with sensitivity and an informed view to cultural background, trauma, gender identity, sexuality, and neurodiversity, ensuring every client is seen as a whole person and not just a claim number.
This includes gold standard assessment of validity (feigning/exaggeration) and a considered evaluation of how this may be impacted by the client’s cultural background, psychosocial history, neurodiversities, and psychiatric and neuropsychiatric conditions including functional neurological disorder.
TAC and WorkCover claims.
Flexible assessment formats, face-to-face, telehealth, or a hybrid of both, tailored to the client’s needs and circumstances.
Total and permanent disability (TPD) and other insurance assessments
Comprehensive cognitive and psychological functioning assessment
Gold standard validity and effort assessment
Culturally informed and trauma-sensitive practice
Evaluation of capacity for work, domestic, social and recreational activities
TAC, WorkCover, insurance companies, plaintiff and defence solicitors
Medico-LegalDisability Support Pension and NDIS applications
Neuropsychological assessment to support NDIS and DSP applications
Has your NDIS or DSP application been unsuccessful for lack of evidence, or do you need to gather more evidence before you apply? If you have a condition with cognitive and psychological symptoms that impact your functioning in a way that meets the criteria, a neuropsychological assessment may help. This includes a comprehensive assessment of your symptoms including cognitive testing and questionnaires to determine your functional limitations. The report directly addresses the NDIS and DSP criteria to clearly demonstrate your eligibility.
Comprehensive cognitive and psychological assessment
Standardised cognitive testing and validated questionnaires
Functional limitations assessment aligned to NDIS and DSP criteria
Report structured to clearly demonstrate eligibility
Diagnosis clarification where required
General practitioners, treating specialists, social workers, legal representatives, self-referral
Medico-LegalDecision Making Capacity Assessments
Specialist capacity assessments across financial, lifestyle, medical, legal and testamentary domains
I have been conducting decision making capacity assessments for over 25 years, across the full range of domains where capacity may be in question.
Lifestyle, accommodation and medical decision capacity — assessment of whether a client requires a Guardian or advocate
Enduring Power of Attorney (EPOA) capacity — assessment of capacity to appoint an EPOA for financial, medical, and lifestyle decisions; contemporaneous, objective evidence that the person understood what they were signing, protecting both the grantor and the appointed attorney from future legal challenge, and providing reassurance to solicitors, financial institutions, and medical practitioners
Financial decision making capacity — including day-to-day financial management and complex decisions such as management of a lump sum compensation payment; determination of whether an administrator is required or whether a less intrusive arrangement is possible
Testamentary capacity — assessment of a person’s cognitive ability to make or change a will; with will challenges increasingly common, a neuropsychological report documenting capacity at the time of signing can not only defeat such challenges but may prevent them from proceeding at all
Capacity to receive and give legal instruction — assessment of whether a client requires a litigation guardian or advocate
Solicitors, VCAT, aged care providers, hospitals, treating clinicians, family members
Medico-LegalParenting Capacity Assessments
Specialist assessment of a parent's cognitive capacity and its implications for safe, consistent parenting
I conduct parenting capacity assessments for matters involving the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (Child Protection) and Family Court. These assessments examine a parent’s cognitive functioning, including memory, attention, problem-solving, and executive function including behaviour, and consider how any identified difficulties may affect their ability to safely and consistently meet their child’s needs. The assessment provides objective, evidence-based information about cognitive strengths and challenges that can inform decisions about custody and access. Where cognitive difficulties are identified, the report may also consider what supports or accommodations could assist the parent in their parenting role.
I take a culturally responsive approach to these assessments, recognising that cultural background, community connection, and lived experience shape parenting practices and may affect how standardised assessment measures should be interpreted. This includes consideration of the Aboriginal Child Placement Principle and the importance of family, community and cultural connection where Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander families are involved, as well as attention to the specific cultural context of families from other backgrounds.
Assessment of memory, attention, problem-solving, and executive function
Analysis of how identified cognitive difficulties may affect safe and consistent parenting
Objective, evidence-based information to inform custody and access decisions
Consideration of supports and accommodations where cognitive difficulties are identified
Family Court and Children’s Court report preparation
Expert witness services
Family law solicitors, Family Court, Children’s Court, Department of Families Fairness and Housing, child protection workers
ForensicForensic Neuropsychological Assessments
Assessment at the interface of neuropsychology and criminal justice
I conduct assessments of offenders to determine their fitness to plead and stand trial, and to determine the impact of acquired brain injury, intellectual disability, or neurodivergence (including ADHD and autism) upon their offending, addressing the Verdins Principles and, where relevant, the principles arising from Bugmy v The Queen (2013) 249 CLR 571 regarding the impact of social disadvantage, adverse background, and factors such as FASD and acquired brain injury on offending. I recognise that these impacts are disproportionately experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and I bring cultural awareness and sensitivity to assessments involving First Nations clients, including consideration of the effects of intergenerational trauma and cultural dispossession.
I also assess victims for the impact of the offence upon their cognitive and psychological functioning and their capacity to act as a witness in Court. This involves a comprehensive assessment of the client’s cognitive and psychological functioning. Assessments are conducted with sensitivity to cultural background, gender identity, sexuality, and neurodiversity, ensuring every client is seen as a whole person.
This includes gold standard assessment of validity (feigning/exaggeration) and a considered evaluation of how this may be impacted by the client’s cultural background, psychosocial history, neurodiversities, and psychiatric and neuropsychiatric conditions including functional neurological disorder. I see clients in custody and can travel to any correctional centre in Victoria to do so.
Fitness to plead and stand trial assessments
Impact of acquired brain injury upon offending behaviour
Addressing the Verdins Principles
Victim assessments — impact of offence on cognitive and psychological functioning
Capacity to act as a witness in Court
Gold standard validity and effort assessment
Gold standard validity and effort assessment
Assessments conducted in custody at any Victorian correctional centre
Criminal defence solicitors, Office of Public Prosecutions, courts, correctional services
DiagnosticDiagnostic Assessment
Comprehensive clinical neuropsychological diagnosis across five specialisation areas
I conduct diagnostic assessments across five key areas, providing thorough evaluation to establish or clarify neuropsychological diagnoses. Each assessment involves a detailed clinical interview, standardised testing, and an integrated report with clear diagnostic formulation and management recommendations.
ADHD & Autism Spectrum Disorder (AuDHD) — 16+
I conduct diagnostic assessments for ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder for people aged 16 and over.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental difference characterised by difficulties with attention, impulse control, and in some presentations, hyperactivity. It is not a deficit of intelligence or effort, and many people with ADHD are highly capable and creative thinkers whose difficulties are often invisible to others. ADHD frequently goes unrecognised in adults, particularly in women, where it may have been masked or misattributed to anxiety or mood difficulties. A neuropsychological assessment can clarify whether ADHD is present, disentangle it from other conditions that can look similar, and provide a detailed cognitive profile to inform supports, workplace accommodations, or legal and insurance matters. Please note that for treatment involving medication a psychiatric assessment is a requirement.
Autism Spectrum Disorder is a neurodevelopmental difference characterised by distinct ways of processing, communicating, and engaging with the world. It is not an illness or a deficit, but a different cognitive and sensory profile that can bring both significant strengths and genuine challenges depending on context and available support. Autism presents differently across individuals and is frequently underdiagnosed in women, older adults, and those from culturally diverse backgrounds. A neuropsychological assessment can assist in clarifying an autism diagnosis, understanding a person’s individual profile of strengths and needs, and informing supports, workplace accommodations, NDIS applications, and legal or family court matters.
AuDHD refers to the co-occurrence of autism and ADHD, a combination far more common than was once recognised. While autism and ADHD share some features, they can also pull in opposite directions — autism is often associated with a preference for routine, predictability, and deep focus, while ADHD can drive novelty-seeking, impulsivity, and difficulty sustaining attention. This interplay can make each condition harder to identify, and the combined profile can present in ways easily misattributed to anxiety, mood disorders, or personality. A neuropsychological assessment can carefully disentangle these overlapping presentations and provide a clear, integrated picture of the person’s cognitive and behavioural profile.
Comprehensive neuropsychological and behavioural assessment adhering to DSM-5-TR criteria
Differentiating ADHD, autism, and AuDHD from conditions with overlapping presentations
Detailed cognitive profile to inform supports and workplace accommodations
NDIS application support
Reports for legal, insurance, and family court matters
Assessments conducted in custody at any Victorian correctional centre
Concussion & Persistent Post-Concussion Syndrome
Concussion, also called mild traumatic brain injury, occurs when a blow or jolt to the head disrupts brain function. While many people recover fully within weeks, others experience persistent symptoms including difficulties with memory, attention, processing speed, fatigue, headaches, and emotional regulation — a presentation known as post-concussion syndrome.
Neuropsychological assessment plays an important role in documenting the cognitive effects of concussion, tracking recovery, and informing treatment, rehabilitation, and legal or insurance proceedings. Sports-related concussion has received significant attention in recent years, with growing awareness of the potential long-term cognitive effects of repeated head injuries, including subclinical injuries. I assess Traumatic Encephalopathy Syndrome (TES), the clinical syndrome associated with repetitive head trauma and often referred to as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). As CTE is a neuropathological diagnosis that can currently only be confirmed post-mortem, TES represents the corresponding clinical presentation that can be identified and assessed during life.
I have experience assessing concussion across a wide range of contexts, from transport accident claims through to elite sport, and understand the particular complexities these assessments present — including the careful evaluation of response validity and the contribution of pre-existing conditions.
Comprehensive cognitive assessment following concussion or mTBI
Persistent Post-Concussion ySndrome evaluation
Sports-related concussion and return-to-activity capacity
Tracking cognitive recovery over time
TAC, WorkCover, and insurance medico-legal reporting
Gold standard validity assessment
Awareness of long-term effects including CTE risk factors
Functional Neurological Disorder (FND)
Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) is a condition in which the nervous system is not functioning as it should, producing real and often disabling neurological symptoms — including weakness, seizures, movement disorders, sensory disturbance, and cognitive difficulties — in the absence of structural brain disease. FND is not feigned or imagined; the symptoms are genuine and can be severe and life-altering.
Neuropsychological assessment has an important role to play in the evaluation of FND, both in contributing to diagnosis and in carefully evaluating response validity. This is an area of particular complexity, as FND and the exaggeration or feigning of symptoms are not mutually exclusive. Disentangling these overlapping presentations requires nuanced clinical judgment, a thorough understanding of the research literature, and careful consideration of the many factors — including trauma history, cultural background, and psychiatric comorbidities — that can influence both FND and validity findings.
Neuropsychological contribution to FND diagnosis
Cognitive profiling to characterise functional symptoms
Differentiation from structural neurological conditions
Nuanced response validity assessment in FND contexts
Consideration of trauma, cultural, and psychiatric factors
Medico-legal reporting for FND presentations
Dementia
Dementia is a term describing progressive decline in thinking, behaviour, and the ability to manage daily life. It can affect memory, language, visual-spatial skills, executive functions such as planning and problem-solving, and in some cases motor function. The most common forms are Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia, though many rarer types exist including Lewy body dementia, frontotemporal dementia, Parkinson’s disease, and Huntington’s disease among others.
Importantly, a number of treatable conditions can mimic dementia — including vitamin deficiencies, medication effects, liver disease, depression, and alcohol use — which is why thorough assessment matters. A neuropsychological assessment can help establish whether cognitive decline is present, track its progression over time, and contribute to a differential diagnosis by ruling out other explanations. It can also address capacity questions such as capacity to drive.
Comprehensive assessment of cognitive decline across multiple domains
Differential diagnosis across dementia syndromes (Alzheimer’s, Lewy body, FTD, vascular)
Distinguishing dementia from treatable conditions that mimic it
Tracking cognitive progression over time
Capacity assessments including capacity to drive
Contributions to NDIS applications and guardianship matters
Intellectual Disability
Intellectual disability describes significant limitations in both intellectual functioning and adaptive behaviour — that is, the everyday social and practical skills needed to navigate daily life. It is present from birth or early childhood and is not a disease or a progressive condition, though the challenges it presents can change across the lifespan.
A neuropsychological assessment can establish the nature and extent of cognitive strengths and limitations, which is important for accessing supports, educational planning, NDIS applications, legal proceedings, and understanding how a person’s cognitive profile may affect their decision-making capacity or ability to participate in legal processes.
Assessment of intellectual functioning and adaptive behaviour (DSM-5-TR criteria)
Identifying cognitive strengths alongside limitations
NDIS application support
Educational and support planning
Guardianship and legal capacity matters
Criminal justice contexts — fitness to plead and offending behaviour
General practitioners, neurologists, psychiatrists, treating psychologists, self-referral
Unsure which service is right?
Contact me and I’ll guide you to the appropriate assessment pathway.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who do you assess?
I assess clients aged 16 and over, referred for medico-legal neuropsychological assessment.
What does your assessment of validity involve?
Every assessment includes a gold-standard evaluation of validity — that is, whether the results genuinely reflect the client’s abilities. I consider how validity may be affected by factors such as cultural background, personal and trauma history, neurodiversity, and psychiatric and neuropsychiatric conditions, including functional neurological disorder.
Are your reports independent?
Yes. My reports are prepared in accordance with the Expert Witness Code of Conduct and the Civil Procedure Act 2010, with conclusions clearly reasoned and explained.
Do you offer face-to-face assessment?
Yes. Where telehealth isn’t suitable, I can travel to see the client at home, where they’re often most comfortable and don’t have the burden of travel. If that isn’t appropriate, I can arrange rooms for the client to attend. Because I don’t keep permanent rooms, I don’t charge for travel time.
How long will it take to receive the report?
Reports are usually completed within a week of the final assessment session, and in many cases within three days. If you have a deadline, let me know and I’ll meet it. I keep some flexibility for urgent matters, such as those with set court dates.
What LANGUAGES are your assessments conducted in?
English – Professional interpreter services will be arranged as needed. Please note that however well-intentioned, family members and friends are not an appropriate substitute for a professional interpreter.
How are assessments conducted?
My preferred method is telehealth, using Coviu. A full neuropsychological assessment involves around five to six hours of client contact, which can be demanding because of fatigue, distress, or work and family commitments. Telehealth lets me break the assessment into manageable sessions across one day, two days or more, and makes it easier to offer and adjust appointment times — which matters for clients with brain injuries who can find scheduled appointments hard to remember or attend. Clients can also stay in the comfort of their own home, avoiding travel that can be difficult for those with trauma associated with motor vehicle accidents.
What areas do you service?
Melbourne and across regional Victoria, including Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong, Warrnambool, Portland, Horsham and the Otways. If your client is located elsewhere in the region, please ask.