Stanley is the patron of the Telethon Kids Institute and a distinguished professorial fellow in the School of Paediatrics and Child Health at the University of Western Australia.

It is a unique collection of data on births from the entire state which has proved a valuable resource in predicting trends in maternal and child health and the effects of preventive programs.

"Data collected enabled Stanley and her colleagues to explore, for instance, the connection between a lack of folic acid in diets and spina bifida, and markedly reduce it".

[1] This work in 1989 confirmed that the benefit of folate in preventing spina bifida, as first shown in double blind clinical trials in the UK (Laurence et al., BMJ 282 1509–1511 (1981)), also applied in Western Australian populations.

[7] In 2002, due largely to her lobbying, the prime minister of Australia, John Howard, launched the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY)[8] of which she is chairperson.

[9] Stanley is a professor at the School of Paediatrics and Child Health at University of Western Australia and the UNICEF Australian ambassador for Early Childhood Development.

[1] On 10 October 2023, Stanley was one of 25 Australians of the Year who signed an open letter supporting the Yes vote in the Indigenous Voice referendum, initiated by psychiatrist Patrick McGorry.