Tammie Foster

Dr Tammie Foster is an early career researcher and Adjunct Research Fellow at Flinders University whose work sits at the intersection of psychology, digital health, neurodivergence, justice, and complex service systems. Her research focuses on developing practical, evidence-based approaches to improve assessment, decision-making, and access to appropriate care and support for populations with complex needs.

A major focus of Tammie’s current research is CAREPath (Contextual, Adaptive, Responsive and Explainable Pathways), a human-centred framework for improving navigation through complex service systems. CAREPath research spans disability and autism, justice and throughcare, mental health and wellbeing, and other areas where people may experience fragmented or difficult-to-navigate pathways. Her work emphasises co-design, lived experience, culturally responsive approaches, and the responsible use of digital technologies and artificial intelligence.

Tammie also leads research examining autism, remorse and decision-making in forensic contexts, including the development of M-ORE (Multimodal Offender Remorse Evaluation). This program investigates how neurodivergent communication and behaviour may influence perceptions of remorse and sentencing decisions, and explores transparent, human-in-the-loop approaches to using multimodal data and AI to support more consistent and defensible assessments.

Across her research, Tammie is particularly interested in human-centred and explainable AI, digital health, autism and neurodivergence, forensic psychology, service navigation, complex support needs, and the translation of research into practical tools and systems. Her work is interdisciplinary and collaborative, with a strong emphasis on ensuring that technological innovation complements rather than replaces human judgement, lived experience, and professional expertise.

Autism and neurodivergence; Forensic psychology; Human-centred AI; Digital health; Complex care and service navigation; Justice and throughcare; Decision-making and bias; Co-design and lived experience