SpeakOut_April2014_FINAL_eCopy

associationnews

NationalOffice (NO)StaffUpdate

position inApril 2012. The scope of this role continued to grow and Jemmamoved into a role providing research and policy advice to awide range of national andBranch strategic activities. Jemma’s exceptional skillswere notably captured in themajor part of theSenate Inquiry submission andwewere very grateful for her significant contribution to the submission. Wewish her well and every success in her future endeavours. PracticeandClinical Support Advisor,NicholaHarris We are very pleased that Nichola is now

Welcome toRonelleHutchinson, ManagerPolicyandAdvocacy This newpositionwas created to

provide high level support to the strategic lobbying andpolicy activities of the Association. Dr RonelleHutchinson haswide experienceworking in health and social

policy areas, includingwith theRoyal College of General Practitioners and in the early childhoodpolicy context. Ronelle holds aPhD inSociology and aMasters inPublic Health. She hasworked at departmental andministerial council levels for a number of key projects, across health, education, early childhood and the community sector. Ronelle commenced on 24March andwewelcome her to the team. Ronelle begins at a very exciting time for the Association and is alreadyworking at full pace, driving our preparation for the hearingpresentation to the Senate Inquiry. Ronelle can be contacted at policy@ speechpathologyaustralia.org.au . ProjectConsultant–Disability, CathyOlsson As previously announced, we are pleased to confirm that CathyOlsson was appointed to theProject Consultant – Disability role and commenced in around theNDIS and other relatedmatters. Cathy brings awealth of experience to the rolewith almost 30 years of experience in the disability field. Cathy has already been involved in a range of speech pathology specific aswell as allied health consultationswith keyNDIApersonnel. Additionally, she is gatheringmember input andplanning for the challenging times aheadwith the full rollout of theNDIS, as well as how thiswill impact on the profession and consumers of speech pathology services. Cathy can be contacted at disability@speechpathologyaustralia.org.au . Farewell toDr JemmaSkeat, SeniorAdvisorResearchandPolicy It waswith great sadnesswe farewelled Jemma from theNO team early in February. February. This six-month positionwas created toprovide additional capacity and expertise to theAssociation’swork

a permanentmember of NO andwill continue towork twodays per week. Themain objective of Nichola’s role is to provide information and advice to speech pathologists and the public on professional and clinical matters. This involves being

responsive to enquiries and assisting in the review and production of resourcematerials formembers and the public. Nichola has already contributed a range of new and updated FAQs, aswell as other new resources. AssociationRepresentativeRoles SpeechPathology Australia recently announced our acceptance as a newmember of twopeak bodies: the

National AgedCareAlliance (NACA) and the National Rural HealthAlliance (NRHA). JadeCartwright (left), fromWA, was appointed as SPA’s representative toNACA basedon her extensive academic and clinical experience in theAgedCare sector. We’re alsopleased to announce that AmandaO’Keefe (left), from theNT, was appointed as SPA’sRural AndRemote Communities representative to theNRHA, aswell as representative on theAlliedHealth Professions AustraliaR&RCommittee.

Both Jade andAmanda have already introduced themselves via the respectiveMember Communities and are eagerly awaiting any feedback and issues thatmembersmaywish to discuss. Wewould like to thank all SPAmemberswho represent theAssociation on organisations for their dedication and commitment to supporting their profession.

GAILMULCAIR Chief ExecutiveOfficer

Jemma commencedproject work for theAssociation, coordinating theData Mappingproject in 2008 and subsequently conducted a further stage of this project in

2011. Jemma’s strong research skills andprojectmanagement efficiencywere recognised and she began a permanent staff

6 SpeakOut April 2014

SpeechPathology Australia