Speak Out August 2016 Low Res

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August 2016 Speak Out 3
From the President
Through our work with
communication and eating and
drinking, we support people to
connect and belong, exercise their
right to self-determination, participate
in and contribute to their community,
learn to their full potential and expand
their life choices. We create futures.
This edition of Speak Out, focuses
on how members around the country
“create futures”, through their
award winning contributions to the
profession and Association, through
their activities with and through
branches, and through Association
activities that support your efforts in
creating futures.
The launch of the Speech Pathology
2030 report will be a highlight of
Speech Pathology Week, and will be
the culmination of the reflection, and
considerations of more than 1000
speech pathologists from across
Australia, working in a range of
sectors, contexts and with a range of
experiences. Thank you to all of you
who took part from filling out initial
surveys to develop the Understanding
the Landscape paper, through to
participating in conversations and
workshops. With the dedicated
project leadership of Chris Lyons
(Senior Advisor, Private Practice), the
support of the steering committee;
Gail Mulcair (CEO), Michael Kerrisk
(Communications Manager), Trish
Johnson (Senior Advisor, Ethics
and Professional Issues), Chyrisse
Heine (Director) and Robyn Stephen
(Director); the Young Futures team of
Gretchen Young, Katy Callaghan and
Jane Haswell have created a vision of
the future. My congratulations to all of
those involved in the development of
this formative piece of work.
The launch of the final document
is only the start of our journey of
creating the future imagined in the
vision document. The next time you
sit down with a cuppa to read the
October Speak Out , we will be busy
developing the Association’s next
strategic plan - to guide us another
three years towards 2030. As part
of this work, we will seek members’
input to determining the key priorities
in order to progress towards the
profession’s aspirations. But in the
intervening two months, I encourage
you to read and reflect on the 2030
document and consider how you in
your work can contribute to ensuring
this vision is a reality in 2030.
As we reflect on how our work
can change lives and create new
futures for people with speech
language communication needs
and/or difficulties with eating and
drinking, it becomes clear that it is
very important for the community
to know and understand what we
do. Through community awareness
and understanding, those people
that could benefit from our services
are more likely to become aware of
and advocate for them. I encourage
you to consider how your activities
in Speech Pathology Week have
contributed to community awareness.
For now, sit back and enjoy catching
up on the successes and activities of
your colleagues and reading about
the work your Association is doing
to support you in your vital future-
changing work.
Gaenor Dixon
Gaenor Dixon
National President