Dr Laura Burritt is a full time Associate Lecturer in Occupational Therapy. She is also the program coordinator for the Certificate of Allied Health Assistant offered at the University of the Sunshine Coast. Prior to working at UniSC, Laura taught into the occupational therapy course at Southern Cross University, Gold Coast. She also worked as a clinical supervisor supporting 1,2nd,3rd and 4th year students. Laura completed her PhD in 2023 and is focusing her research on supporting children in schools who are negatively impacted by the social determinants of health.
Laura has worked in her own private practice since 2017, working primarily with children and young adults in the community. She is passionate about knowledge translation and supports her students to develop a solid foundation of theoretical and clinical skills.
Professional memberships
- Occupational Therapy Australia
Awards and fellowships
- Australian Government Postgraduate Research Training Program Scholarship Recipient 2018-2022
- Fellow in the Higher Education Association (FHEA)
- 2023 Service Excellence Award, School of Health, UniSC
While working as a paediatric occupational therapist, Laura completed her PhD on the facilitators and barriers of supporting the school success of children of low socioeconomic background. She has continued to focus her research activities on projects related to inequities in health, wellbeing and educational outcomes for vulnerable children. Laura is interested in identifying multi-disciplinary approaches to responding to social determinants of health, creating policy and systems that can respond to the needs of local communities and finding innovative ways to support educational institutions to be flexible to the changing needs of children and families. Laura is particularly interested in research related to the provision of quality early childhood education for all children and supporting children to engage in play. Laura has also investigated the lived experiences of families as they supported their children to engage in a multi modal intensive therapy intervention.
Research areas
- Social determinants of health and support children with low socioeconomic backgrounds
- Trauma-informed practice
- Early childhood education systems and training
- Inclusion and policy enactment
- Knowledge and confidence of new graduate occupational therapists
Laura has over 20 years of experience teaching young people and adults – engaging in clinical supervision and teaching in higher education in Australia since 2017. Laura has used her knowledge of curriculum design and pedagogy to create innovative, engaging learning opportunities that prepare students with skills to inform evidence-based practice in the context of current funding models. Laura has actively worked to support course and program alignment, improving students learning experiences.
Laura works with research honours and HDR candidates interested in investigating occupational participation, wellbeing, and inclusion to support health and wellbeing outcomes.