Australian Hand Therapy Association Credentialing Council

Andrea Bialocerkowski | Chair | Academic Member of Council | Physiotherapist

Andrea is a registered physiotherapist and academic leader. She is currently the Director of micro-credentialing and Short Courses at Griffith University, where she leads the development and implementation of health-related micro-credentials. Andrea has substantial experience in higher education, including novel teaching pedagogies, the assessment of competence, and student placements. She is also an active researcher, having published >120 works during her career and procured >$8.8m of research/consultancy funding since 2015. Her earlier work, including her PhD (completed in 2002) and her NHMRC post-doctoral fellowship (completed in 2008) focused on the upper limb, and she continues to supervise PhD students with upper limb interests. Andrea was the first academic member of the AHTA and has been an active member of the Research and Scholarship Committee (2009-2023) and the Education Committee (2020-2023). She joined the Council at its inception.

Tracey Clark | AHT Member | Physiotherapist

Tracey is a clinician, educator and researcher. She is a senior hand therapist at a tertiary referral hospital in Western Sydney and runs a private practice in Sydney’s northwest. She teaches hand therapy at UTS and is an orthotics presenter for AHTA. Tracey is the recipient of an AHTA PhD scholarship at Griffith University, where she is researching hand therapy competencies. Having held many executive positions in AHTA, including president and inaugural chair of the Credentialing Council, Tracey now serves on the Council as an AHT member. In 2017, Tracey was made a life member of AHTA for her contributions to the profession. In her spare time, Tracey enjoys researching family history, reading and hiking.

Celeste Glasgow | AHT Member | Occupational Therapist

Celeste is a past President of the AHTA. She has chaired the Research and Scholarship Committee and been involved in member Advocacy. She has held many other executive roles over the years including Vice President, membership secretary and QLD divisional representative. Celeste has a PhD from the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences of the University of Queensland, and a Master of Science (Hand and Upper Limb Rehabilitation) from Curtin University, Perth. Celeste is an Occupational Therapist who currently works as an Advanced Practitioner at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.  She continues to be actively involved in research and has won multiple awards for her research work and publications.

Melanie McCulloch | AHT Member | Occupational Therapist

Melanie is the Director and Senior Hand Therapist at Re-wired Hand Therapy & Nerve Recovery in Melbourne, Victoria. She has extensive experience in the treatment of brachial plexus injury, and has presented at numerous AHTA conferences including a workshop on Nerve Transfer Rehabilitation in 2017.  She has previously worked in the public sector and the UK as a hand therapist in a variety of settings since 1997. Melanie graduated from La Trobe University in Occupational Therapy, and has a Graduate Certificate in Hand Therapy from Derby in the UK. 

Elissa Campbell | Independent Member of Council

Elissa is a lawyer with extensive experience in health law and policy. She has worked for many years in a variety of health policy and legal roles in the public, private and university sectors with a focus on not-for-profit member associations. She has a strong understanding of the health system and policy issues of important to health professions. Elissa is currently working as Policy and Advocacy Manager at Audiology Australia and prior to that was Policy Manager at the College of Psychiatrists for several years. She has a Masters of Health Law from Melbourne University and a Masters of Public Health from the University of Sydney and was previously a committee member and policy lead for the Victorian Branch of the Public Health Association of Australia.

Jessica Holding- Academic Member of Council (Occupational Therapist)

Jessica is an Occupational Therapist and Accredited Hand Therapist as awarded by the Australian Hand Therapy Association. She is a Lecturer at Griffith University having commenced working in academia after working as a hand therapy practitioner across public and private settings for fourteen years. She has a passion for the value that an occupational perspective brings to hand therapy and the findings of research in this field form part of her Master of Philosophy candidature. Prior to commencing work with the Credentialing Council, Jessica was a member of the AHTA Education Committee and was involved in accrediting elective courses, writing and reviewing course assessments.

Shanthi Gardiner – Independent Member

qualified Dietitian and a policy and advocacy leader with almost 20 years experience working for not-for-profits, peak bodies and consultancies across Australia. She is passionate about supporting organisations to build their capacity to influence decision makers and affect positive change. Shanthi is the Director of Bridgeway Global, which provides policy and advocacy services to build the influence of organisations that serve and improve the wellbeing of communities.

Shanthi holds a Master of Public Policy and Management and an undergraduate Bachelor of Nutrition and Dietetics from Monash University.