Speak Out December high low res draft 2017

December 2017

www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au

Speak Out

WITH THE END

of the year approaching,

I don’t know about you, but it always

feel like a bit of a sprint to the finish line.

Trying to complete activities that I wanted

to tie up in 2017, starting to unwrap the

activities for 2018, and then of course

there are those activities that last more

than just this year. I hope that in the

busyness of this time of year you can

find a few minutes to sit down and enjoy

this edition of

Speak Out

. This edition

will showcase some of the activities that

your Association has been involved with

over the last year; through both our paid

positions and our volunteers.

As I reflect on the successes of the

Association this year, I would like to thank

Gail Mulcair, our CEO, and the very hard-

working, dedicated National Office team

for their commitment and effort this year. It

is exciting to see the Association’s opinion

sought in media and policy, and to see

our steps on the road towards achieving

our 2030 aspirations. I would like to

particularly note the contributions of Chris

Lyons, Ronelle Hutchinson and Rebecca

Faltyn, who have left the Association

this year to pursue other opportunities.

The work of these three staff members

in advocacy, professional advice and

publications, together with the current

staff, has set the Association on a strong

path.

I would also like to thank all the member

volunteers across the Association for

their contributions this year; the Branch

Chairs and the Branch executives. I

would particularly like to thank outgoing

chairs Alison Smith (Queensland) and

Rosie Martin (Tasmania) for your service

for a number of years – and I look

forward to continuing to work with you

in other capacities! Thanks to our Ethics

Board Chair, Suze Leitão; and the Ethics

Board, for their strategic proactive work

supporting our members to maintain their

ethical practices. Thanks to the 2017,

2018 and 2019 conference planning

committees. Thank you to our newly

formed Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander Advisory Committee members,

Tara Lewis, Eddie Ong and Alice Robbins.

Thank you to all the reference groups

that provide us with advice; the Aged

Care Reference Group, the Early Career

Reference Group, the members who are

linked as representatives on their Primary

Health Network committees, rural and

remote representatives, the school-aged

expert reference group; and the members

who have provided us with advice on the

many activities that the Association is

engaged with; whether that is providing

feedback on the NDIS, or input to a

clinical guideline or other documents.

And, I would like to thank the Directors of

the Association (Chyrisse Heine, Belinda

Hill, Tim Kittel, Lee McGovern, Brooke

Sanderson, and Marleen Westerveld) for

their work in steering the direction of the

organisation.

2018 promises to be another busy

but successful year – don’t forget to

renew your membership! As you budget

for 2018, don’t forget to include the

conference in Adelaide. The program

is looking to be thought-provoking and

cutting-edge. I hope that I can meet you

there!

In the meantime, I hope that you have a

safe and restorative holiday period, and

I look forward to continuing to work with

and for you next year.

From the

President

Gaenor Dixon

National President

Speech Pathology Australia would like to

wish you all a merry festive season and a safe

and Happy New Year.

Please note that the Speech Pathology Australia

National Office will be closed from 22 December

2017 until 2 January 2018.