Professor Jenni Oates

There are very few people who have shaped the profession of voice speech pathology in Australia as profoundly as Professor Jennifer Oates (Jenni), and we are incredibly proud to have her consulting with Voice Medicine Australia.

With more than 50 years of clinical, teaching and research experience, Jenni is recognised internationally as one of Australia’s leading voice speech pathologists. She is an Emeritus Professor at La Trobe University, where she served as Professor and Head of Speech Pathology and inspired generations of speech pathologists through her teaching and mentorship. Many of Australia’s voice clinicians, VMA staff included, had the privilege of learning from Jenni during our university training.

Jenni is a Certified Practising Speech Pathologist and a Fellow and Life Member of Speech Pathology Australia. She was also one of the founding speech pathologists of the Melbourne Voice Analysis Centre, alongside Dr Debbie Phyland more than 35 years ago, and has continued to advance both the science and clinical practice of voice throughout her career.

Internationally, Jenni is recognised as a pioneer in gender-affirming voice and communication. She has worked in this field since 1979 and has helped shape contemporary practice worldwide through her work with the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), including contributing to the Voice and Communication chapter of the WPATH Standards of Care and leading international mentoring initiatives for voice clinicians.

Jenni’s clinical and research interests span voice disorders, upper airway dysfunction, occupational voice, neurogenic voice disorders, gender-affirming voice and communication, and the psychosocial aspects of voice disorders. She has published more than 120 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters and delivered over 180 invited presentations, workshops and conference papers nationally and internationally.

At Voice Medicine Australia, Jenni consults in a specialist advisory role, providing expert voice assessments, acoustic voice analysis and clinical opinion for people with complex voice disorders. Having Jenni as part of our team means our patients benefit from the insight and experience of one of the true pioneers of our profession, and it is a privilege to work alongside someone who has inspired so many of us.