Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
n journalist, reporter, and news presenter for the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...
. She has also worked as a model, ballet dancer and ballet teacher.
Shepard attended
Perth Modern School
, motto_translation = Knowledge is Power
, location = Subiaco, Perth, Western Australia
, country = Australia
, coordinates =
, mapframe-stroke-colour = #C60C30
, mapframe-marker-co ...
. 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' ...
, 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.
Shephard 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 university in Western Australia. It is named in honour of the first woman to be elected to an Australian parliament, Edith Cowan, and is the only Australian university named after a woman. Gaining unive ...
, and began working for the
ABC News
ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...
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 was on maternity leave.
Shepard is the granddaughter of Terri Charlesworth, one of
West Australian Ballet
West Australian Ballet is the State ballet company of Western Australia and is based in Perth, at the Western Australian Ballet Centre in Maylands.
The company was founded in 1952 by Madame Kira Bousloff (formerly of the Ballets Russes) and ...
's inaugural dancers, and founder of the Charlesworth Ballet Institute. Shepard is a guest teacher at the Institute.