Dr. Tomomi McAuliffe serves as Senior Lecturer in Occupational Therapy within the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences, at the University of Queensland. She holds a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy (Honours) from James Cook University and a Doctor of Philosophy from Curtin University. Her PhD investigated family routine management and its everyday impact on mothers of autistic children, comparing experiences across household status (single versus coupled) and region of residence (major city versus regional/remote areas).

Prior to her academic career, McAuliffe worked in mental health clinical practice, fostering her interest in mothering roles and occupations. Her research specializations focus on parental health and wellbeing in the context of disability, including mental health, work participation, life balance, and family responsibility management for mothers of children with disabilities such as autism. Additional academic interests encompass mental health among international students from non-Western backgrounds, intellectual disability in health professional education, incorporation of family routines into occupational therapy interventions for autistic children, and accessibility of services in regional and remote areas. Key projects include her PhD and the 2023-2024 Women in Health Research and Translation Network Early to Mid-Career Researcher Grant for embedding mental health services for mothers of children with disability in paediatric settings. She has presented research at national and international conferences, such as Occupational Therapy Australia National Conferences and the World Federation of Occupational Therapists Congress.

McAuliffe's publication record includes over 25 journal articles, 16 conference papers, and book chapters. Notable works are 'The rewards and challenges of self-managing National Disability Insurance Scheme: exploration of parental perspectives' (2025, Australian Occupational Therapy Journal), 'Children born very or extremely preterm transitioning to school: a cross-sectional study examining predictors of school readiness, school adjustment, and support needs' (2024, Early Child Development and Care), 'Participation and experiences in extracurricular activities for autistic and neurotypical children' (2023, Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders), the book chapter 'Human occupations of middle adulthood (ages 40–65)' (2025, Routledge), and an editorial 'Addressing the hidden curriculum: professional behaviour development in allied health education' (2025, Focus on Health Professional Education). She supervises higher degree by research students and lectures in courses including Psychosocial Aspects of Occupational Therapy Practice.

Professional Email: t.mcauliffe@uq.edu.au