Speak Out February 2019

Association news

THE NEXT PHASE OF THE CBOS REVIEW WILL COMMENCE THIS MONTH AS FOCUS GROUPS EXPLORE KEY ISSUES IDENTIFIED IN THE FIRST TWO STAGES OF THE REVIEW PROCESS. CBOS review update

rural and remote locations. The CBOS review is being facilitated by Young Futures. Gretchen Young is leading the team. She has significant experience in health and human service policy and program development and evaluation. Gretchen previously worked as a speech pathologist and much of her current work focuses on developing allied health professions across diverse contexts. Angela Murray and Katy O’Callaghan are working with Gretchen on the review. Angela has experience working in vocational and higher education, including developing competency standards, reviewing higher education curriculum, and developing accredited Bachelor and Masters degrees. Katy’s expertise is in research, evaluation, policy development and professional writing. She has extensive experience in the education and training, health, and community services sectors. The 2019 SPA Conference in Brisbane will provide a valuable opportunity for the consulting team to report on the progress of the review. To find out more about the CBOS review, contact Dr Simone Arnott on sarnott@speechpathologyaustralia.org.au . Or go www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au Resources for speech pathologists CBOS or click here.

OVER A TWO-WEEK period in February, 12 online focus groups will be conducted. The focus group discussion topics will help to further explore the key issues identified in the literature review, the benchmarking and the survey feedback gathered in the previous two phases of the CBOS review, which began in mid-2018. Participants of the focus groups include people with different demographics, years of experience, and the diverse practice areas relevant to the profession. The specific focus group questions were developed with guidance from the SPA Professional Standards Advisory Committee (PSAC) and the Competency Standards Advisory Committee (CSAC). Once the focus groups are completed, the consulting team will work with the PSAC to confirm the overall framework and nomenclature for the revised standards before the next consultation stage begins in June 2019. The first phase of the CBOS review involved a team of contracted consultants who reviewed published literature relating to competency standards. This was followed by discussions with other allied health professions, who had recently reviewed their standards, to learn from their experiences and insights. A benchmarking exercise was then completed, which investigated the structure, content and application of competency standards for speech pathology in Canada, the USA and the UK as well as for occupational therapy, physiotherapy, social work, teaching, and engineering in Australia. The second phase commenced in late-2018. This involved a survey of speech pathologists, final year speech pathology students, and managers and educators of speech pathologists who are not speech pathologists. Extensive information was gained from nearly 1100 contributors. Every State and Territory was represented, including individuals from metropolitan, regional,

Go to the CBOS Review webpage

Speech Pathology Australia CODE OF ETHICS REVIEW

GO TO THE CBOS REVIEW WEB PAGE Activities to contribute to the review will include: • broad consultation within the profession; • consultation with external stakeholders including consumers; • a member survey; • focus groups, to be held in various locations around the country; and, • a lunchtime forum at the 2019 National Conference. Keep an eye out for opportunities for you to participate in the review – your contributions will be crucial to developing a version of the Code that is relevant to our profession and consumers, today and into the next 10 years.

SPEECH PATHOLOGY AUSTRALIA initially developed a Code of Ethics (the Code) for members in 1976, to support speech pathologists to demonstrate professionally acceptable behaviour and provide benefit to the consumers of speech pathology services and the wider community. The Code was created with a plan for regular review, to ensure currency and relevance for the profession and community. Regular review also ensures that the role and function of the Ethics Board and the Association’s Ethics Procedures are linked with the Code. A major review of the Code of Ethics is underway and will be undertaken during 2019, for publication of the revised version in 2020.

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February 2019 www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au

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