Western Australia
Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
n journalist, reporter, and news presenter for the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...
. She has also worked as a model, ballet dancer and ballet teacher.
Shepherd attended
Perth Modern School
Perth Modern School (colloquially known as Perth Mod) is a public co-educational academically selective high school, located in Subiaco, an inner city suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Perth Modern is Western Australia's only fully academica ...
. In 2005, at age 18, she joined the
New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company's fir ...
, the first Australian to do so. Her career as a ballet dancer was the cause of several fractured and broken bones. She was one of several dancers laid off in 2009, after which she returned to Perth.
She has worked as a model for Vivien's Model Management.
Shepherd obtained a Bachelor of Communications, majoring in journalism and broadcasting, and a Graduate Certificate of Radio Broadcasting from
Edith Cowan University
Edith Cowan University (ECU) is a public research university in Western Australia. It is named in honour of the first woman to be elected to an Parliaments of the Australian states and territories, Australian parliament, Edith Cowan, and is, , t ...
, and began working for the
ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to:
* ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
* ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company
ABC News may a ...
Perth as journalist and reporter. In 2016, she filled in for James McHale reading the news. From August 2021 to June 2022 she presented the news on Friday-Sunday, while
Charlotte Hamlyn
Charlotte Hamlyn (born ) is a Western Australian journalist, reporter, and news presenter for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Hamlyn graduated from the University of Western Australia in 2008 with a degree in Communications/English, and ...
was on maternity leave.
Shepherd is the granddaughter of Terri Charlesworth, one of
West Australian Ballet
West Australian Ballet (WAB) is the state ballet company of Western Australia and is based at the Western Australian Ballet Centre in Maylands, an inner suburb of Perth. Founded in 1952 by Kira Bousloff (formerly of the Ballets Russes), it i ...
's inaugural dancers, and founder of the Charlesworth Ballet Institute. Shepherd is a guest teacher at the Institute.