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ONE OF THE key initiatives within Speech Pathology
Australia’s Strategic Plan 2017–2019 focuses on
supporting our members to develop greater awareness
and knowledge of practising in a culturally responsive
and culturally safe manner. It is recognised as essential
that health professionals, including speech pathologists,
are both clinically competent and culturally responsive
in order to positively affect the health and well-being of
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
To this end, it was a fitting start to our conference on
Sunday afternoon to host a workshop which introduced
the Cultural Responsiveness in Action: An IAHA
Framework.
Presenters from the Indigenous Allied Health Australia
(IAHA), Donna Murray (CEO), Kylie Stothers and Deb
Evans, provided participants with opportunities to build
upon strengths and identify areas for growth along their
lifelong journeys toward cultural responsiveness.
Key learning objectives guided participants to:
• engage in self-reflection about cultures, personal
beliefs, assumptions, values, perceptions, attitudes
and expectations and impact on relationships;
• increase understanding of how effective leadership
can facilitate change and transform approaches to
health-care that create cultural safety;
• explore ways of knowing, being and doing that will
enhance ability to be cultural responsive.
Participants found the workshop challenging at times,
but extremely thought provoking and valuable, as well
as immediately applicable to their professional practice
with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients and their
families.
August 2017 Speak Out 9
Association news
The Report of the Select Committee on Access to the
South Australian Education System for Students with a
Disability was released on 30 May 2017.
We are pleased to report that SPA’s submission and our
representatives’ appearance at the committee hearing is
acknowledged extensively throughout.
The document can be found at: www.parliament.
aspx?CTId=3&CId=320
Cultural
responsiveness in
action:
An IAHA framework
Disability report
Gail Mulcair
Chief Executive Officer
• The committee then considers these in their list of
issues that goes to the country.
• The country then responds back to the committee,
which considers the responses and makes a report.
• NGOs then consider the report and can comment and
make recommendations.
Following our representation to contribute, SPA was invited
to provide input to the Disabled Persons Organisation
Australia (DPOA) submission to the Committee.
As indicated above, our list of issues needed to be in the
form of a question that we would want the committee to ask
of Australia, so comments were worded accordingly against
the specific articles of the convention that are relevant to
SPA with respect to communication disability. Specifically,
we provided comment and posed questions on the following
articles:
• accessibility (Article 9)
• access to justice (Article 13)
• living independently and be included within the
community (Article19)
• education (Article 24)
• health (Article 25)
While not all of our specific comments/questions were
incorporated within the final DPOA submission, a number
were, either in a specific or more general sense, including
the adoption of communication access principles and
standards (Article 9); provision of supports in the justice
system (for those with communication difficulties) (Article
13); and measures to ensure that the Disability Standards in
Education (2005) are assisting people with disability (Article
24).
IJSLP special issue
Communication is a human right: Celebrating the 70th
anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights
Timed for distribution in early 2018, this special issue of
IJSLP, will join the world in celebrating the 70th anniversary
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and will have
a specific focus on acknowledging communication as a
basic human right and exploring issues around this claim.
Speech Pathology Australia is co-authoring a commentary
paper which the International Communication Project (ICP)
has been invited to submit. This paper discusses the ICP’s
current work directed towards influencing international
health and disability policy, through interaction with world
health policy bodies such as the United Nations (UN) and
the World Health Organization (WHO), and the relevant
communication-related initiatives of these bodies, as well as
those of the ICP itself.