Speak Out low res October 2016

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October 2016 Speak Out 9
Indigenous Allied Health Australia, a national
not for profit, member based Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander allied health organisation is inviting you to attend
its 2016 National Professional Development Forum. The
forum will be held from 29 November to 1 December in
Canberra.
The national forum will include a diverse program with a
range of interactive professional development workshops.
The forum provides a culturally safe place, and space to
enjoy a diverse range of interactive and thought-provoking
workshops that will enhance your professional and
personal journeys. Workshop topics have been chosen
across a broad range of themes to provide opportunities
to increase your knowledge and skills, within the context of
improving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and
wellbeing.
The professional development workshops are designed for
participants from any health profession, job role and sector.
Interprofessional engagement with other participants,
utilising the collective perspectives, strengths and attributes
from across disciplines and sectors, will value add to
learning experiences for all. So whether you work in
health service delivery, management, policy, research or
academia, there will be something for everyone.
The full program is available on the IAHA website www.
For more general information about the forum visit
Indigenous Allied Health
Australia PD workshops
face-to-face, including the development of the ICP’s engagement
and advocacy strategy following the receipt of the Weber Shandwick
consultant’s report, commissioned in 2015 by the ICP.
Subsequent discussions through the week with ICP members and
IALP, as well as additional useful contacts, focused on how best to
leverage influence with key people in the United Nations (UN) and the
World Health Organization (WHO) to achieve international recognition
of communication disability and work towards world-wide accepted
standards for communication inclusivity.
The ICP was also able to raise its profile and promote its activities by
staffing its own stand throughout week. Much of the ICP’s efforts at
the congress were directed at promoting the important underlying
theme that communication is a basic human right.
Speech Pathology Australia was also front and centre in the congress’
poster display, with a poster explaining the Association’s Speech
Pathology 2030 project. Our poster generated a lot of interest and
discussion about the future of the profession – many themes and
challenges are universal!
The congress closed with the exciting news that the New Zealand
Speech-language Therapists’ Association was successful in its bid to
host the IALP Congress in 2022. Speech Pathology Australia is very
pleased that our neighbours were successful in getting the congress
“down under”, albeit across “the ditch”.
Gail Mulcair
Chief Executive Officer
Speech pathologists working in private practice
will know that rebates for speech pathology services
through private health insurance products offer extremely
low value for clients. Speech Pathology Australia therefore
welcomes the appointment of a Federal Private Health
Ministerial Advisory Committee to oversee reforms to
the private health insurance industry. We are hopeful
that reforms will focus on improving the value of these
insurance products for our clients.
The Australian Government expects reforms to increase
competition in the sector, while also improving affordability
and value for money for consumers through:
• The development of easy-to-understand categories of
health insurance, so that consumers understand what
their policies will and will not cover;
• addressing regulatory issues that are adding to the
cost of premiums and discouraging innovation;
• developing a private health insurance product
designed specifically for Australians living in rural and
remote areas.
The committee includes industry, consumer and provider
representatives. As a member organisation of Allied Health
Professions Australia (AHPA) we are especially pleased
that representatives of AHPA will be on the committee. We
hope this means that there will be a focus on improving
value for allied health “ancillary” products. Speech
Pathology Australia will make a formal submission to the
public consultation process in due course.
Reforms to private
health insurance