About Josephine Opie

Josephine was born and raised in a small country town in South Australia, enjoying life on a small ‘mixed’ farm. Obsessed with reading and books, she gained her teaching degree and has taught in regional and metropolitan South Australia & NSW, in Juvenile Justice & Special Education schools in SA & NSW and across Aboriginal communities in Arnhem land in Northern Territory. Always working with disadvantaged and vulnerable students, she focused on First Nations students and the neurodiverse.

Moving on from teaching and with the request from parents, Josephine started PosAbilities, a Not-for-Profit NDIS provider, supporting autistic youth to transition from school to work. Based on Positive Psychology, PosAbilities has grown into a thriving organisation, driven by a team of passionate and committed staff who have guided their young people into successes in independence and meaningful work.

Josephine has always found reasons to write; Journals, Blogs and children’s books. She self-published her first children’s book, ‘Once Upon a Billabong’, from her time living and learning about the people, culture, flora and fauna of Arnhem Land. This interest continues in ‘The Fancy Dress Ball’, where Josephine teaches about the fauna of the Top End in an engaging and fun way. 

Her work with Billy, an autistic first nations young man, has resulted in a fun, vibrant, tool in teaching about animal life in the Top End.