It's been an incredible 11 years for senior Today Tonight reporter Laura Sparkes.

She has visited international news hot spots, covering from Pakistan the US-led invasion of Afghanistan shortly after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, witnessed the birth of sporting heroes while covering the 1998 World Swimming Championships in Perth and again in Japan in 2001, plus the 2000 Sydney Olympics. She has also reported on tragedy: the Mozambique floods in 2000 and the plight of Indonesian boat people.

After taking time off to have children, Laura has returned and launched investigations into the shonky maintenance practices of overseas repairers used by Qantas for their 747 fleet, the abuse of taxpayers' money by the Redeemer Baptist School using Centrelink payments to top up teachers' wages, the rorting of our water scheme by a Canadian gold mine, the abuse of our immigration system by dodgy operators, the mind control behind Landmark Education and how equine influenza was spread in Australia.

In late 2007 she reported from the bellwether seat of Eden Monaro for Seven's 07 Election night coverage.

Laura's journalism career began with a cadetship on Launceston's newspaper The Examiner, before working on suburban newspapers in Sydney. She arrived at the Seven Network in 1994, working as a researcher on a weekly current affairs show called The Times, then had a short stint as a junior reporter on Seven News in 1995.