6 SpeakOut
April 2014
SpeechPathology Australia
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
ProjectConsultant–Disability,
CathyOlsson
As previously announced, we are
pleased to confirm that CathyOlsson
was appointed to theProject Consultant –
Disability role and commenced in
February. This six-month positionwas
created toprovide additional capacity
and expertise to theAssociation’swork
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
Farewell toDr JemmaSkeat,
SeniorAdvisorResearchandPolicy
It waswith great sadnesswe farewelled
Jemma from theNO team early in February.
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
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
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
NationalOffice (NO)StaffUpdate
associationnews
