I was born in Western Australia on Noongar country on 5 May 1980. When I left school in 1996 I had to work out my own pathway to professional development as a performer. From 1996 to 2015 I developed my skills at local art organisations, disability and arts training institutes and across various performance projects in Western Australia.

In 2015 I was lucky to get into the AUSTRALIA COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS SYNC LEADERSHIP program and I got to meet the other artists who shared stories about their careers.I saw myself as a leader in the Down syndrome community before SYNC which helped me be a better leader in the arts. I came away inspired to think big and follow my vision.

My lovely mum, Carol Hales, passed away just before SYNC and that was very tough. I thought that I wouldn’t be up for SYNC but went ahead because I knew she would want me to do it. SYNC is when I started to get really serious about the Down syndrome community and began my research with other people and artists who also had Down syndrome. I wanted to find out about love in their lives and called this FINDING LOVE.

When I finished my play I saw how the future could be. I saw a career as an independent artist and as a public speaker…

I was successful in an Australia Council Arts and Disability Mentoring Initiative with Clare Watson and Black Swan State Theatre Company 2019 - 2021. I hosted an episode of ABC’s Compass, THE UPSIDE about testing pregnant women and living with Down syndrome which was broadcast in 2020. I’ve participated in many forums, discussions and groups focused on arts and disability.

The arts have given me a platform to create social impact. I feel respected for sharing my story in performance. I and other people with Down syndrome and disability have proven we can make valuable and significant contributions to the  Australian and international arts community.

Julia is currently developing a range of new theatrical projects with her creative partners, whilst working towards further opportunities in television and film. Her biggest dream remains appearing on Home and Away.

I met Wendy Martin in 2017 and she saw Finding Love. She said we should move my project forward and introduced me to Clare Watson.

I met Clare Watson who was at BSSTC and I kept telling her she was a great director and that I really wanted to work with her. When Clare watched my Finding Love interviews, she wanted to work with me on that and on my love of Home & Away. My writing mentor, Finn O’Branagain and I got to work on what would become YOU KNOW WE BELONG TOGETHER.

Finn and I began working on research for this work and discovered some things about how society treated people with disability. I was born in 1980 when the institutions in Perth were closing. If I’d been born a generation earlier I might have ended up in one of these institutions. If I’d been born later, I may have been terminated.

In You Know We Belong Together we talked about chromosomes, plastic surgery, relationships, family, love. We also researched the first doctor to find Down syndrome who was Dr Langdon Down. He built a theatre to encourage people with Down syndrome to act on his stage, dance and make the sets.