Meet the Team
Dr Nicole Free
Nicole is a Certified Practising Speech Pathologist, researcher and academic with over 20 years of clinical experience. Throughout her career, Nicole has been dedicated to providing evidenced-based and individualised services to patients, collaborating in multi-disciplinary teams, engaging in life-long learning, and to making a significant contribution to the field of laryngology at an Australian and international level. Nicole has worked in leading tertiary hospitals in Melbourne, London and New York City, and has been the lead speech pathologist in the Voice Disorders Clinic at the Royal Melbourne Hospital since 2018. She was privileged to be a team member for many years at leading centres Voice Medicine Australia and Melbourne Voice Analysis Centre before opening her own practice. Nicole has a Bachelor of Speech Pathology with First Class Honours (2004), a Bachelor of Music Performance (Voice), and completed her PhD at Monash University in 2022.
Nicole’s areas of clinical and research interest include working with singers and professional voice users, the management of neurogenic voice disorders, vocal health and fitness across the lifespan and gender affirming voice care.
Professional memberships: Speech Pathology Australia (SPA), American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA), Laryngology Society of Australasia (LSA), Australian Voice Association (AVA), Gender Identity in Voice (GIIV)
Madeleine peacock
Maddie is a Certified Practising Speech Pathologist and academic with 10 years of experience across private and public hospitals in Melbourne, as well as private practice and the NDIS. She completed a Bachelor of Biomedicine in 2014 and a Masters of Speech Pathology in 2016 at the University of Melbourne. Maddie has spent the majority of her career at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, working across the full continuum of care, from intensive care through to community-based rehabilitation. She has advanced training in videofluoroscopic swallowing studies and tracheostomy management.
Maddie has particular expertise in the assessment and management of voice and swallowing disorders, as well as conditions affecting the upper airways. Maddie works with professional voice users and individuals following surgery, trauma, neurological injury, neuromuscular disorders, and cancer. She also has a strong clinical interest in neurological conditions impacting swallowing and voice, facial nerve palsy, and functional neurological disorders. Maddie is a certified provider of LSVT LOUD (Lee Silverman Voice Treatment), an intensive, evidence-based speech therapy program for people with Parkinson’s disease and other neurological conditions.
Alongside her clinical work, Maddie is passionate about education and works as a lecturer and sessional academic at Australian Catholic University.
Maddie is committed to a person-centred approach, working collaboratively with clients to deliver engaging, evidence-based therapy that supports meaningful, client-driven goals.