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4 Speak Out June 2016
Association news
Directors’ report - May
Some highlights from the meeting include:
• Ethics Board Chair, Dr Suze Leitao and Senior
Member, Trish Bradd, were successfully re-
appointed to the Ethics Board for a further three
year term.
• The Board agreed to implement a Fellowship
and Awards Committee to review fellowship and
award nominations. This Committee will replace
the Fellowship Committee. Life nominations
will continue to be considered by the Board of
Directors.
• In principle support (but not yet endorsement)
was given to the International Dysphagia Diet
Standardisation Initiative (IDDSI) Framework.
The Association will continue to monitor this
project and the adoption of the framework by
international speech pathology associations, the
Dietitians Association of Australia and industry
(see further details on page 5).
• The Board agreed to support the National Aged
Care Alliance (NACA) in their federal election
campaign.
• The Association continues to pursue National
Registration on behalf of the profession, with
reports from the April COAG Health Council
indicating that the Council is considering the
admission of paramedics. This provided a
platform for the Association to write to all Health
Ministers and Shadow Ministers seeking meetings
and consideration of inclusion of the speech
pathology profession.
• The National Alliance of Self Regulating Health
Professions continues to meet with third party
funders, employers and other bodies seeking
recognition of their established self-regulation
standards as comparable with NRAS standards
and as a requirement for employment or provider
status.
• The Board acknowledged that the Government’s
move into caretaker mode, will further delay the
provision of a response to the Senate Inquiry
into ‘the prevalence of different types of speech,
language and communication disorders and
speech pathology in Australia’.
• Appointment of a Credentialing Project Officer
to pursue the implementation of a Credentialing
Framework for the profession is imminent.
• Timely provision of support to members
during the NDIS Roll-Out (Surge Phase) was
discussed, with Speech Pathology Australia’s
administrative staff to be provided with training
and tools to assist members with their enquiries.
• Extended scope of practice trials involving
medication prescribing or administration in
Queensland and potentially other states were
discussed. For the Association to consider
its position with respect to supporting the
profession in this and other areas of extended
practice, it was noted that significant scoping
and consideration of the likely implications will be
required. Initially this topic will be discussed further
with the Heads of Speech Pathology programs at
universities with respect to training requirements
at undergraduate verses post-graduate levels.
• Recommendations of the Transferability Project
Phase Two were accepted by the Board. The
current accreditation guidelines will now be
revised to incorporate the new requirements.
Guidelines will take effect in 2017.
• The importance of members engaging with
Primary Health Networks (PHNs) was
discussed, with it acknowledged that a number
of members are involved on Clinical Councils or
Boards of PHNs.
• The final drafts of the Evidence Based Speech
Pathology Practice for Individuals with Autism
Spectrum Disorder Clinical Guideline and
Position Statement were approved, with these to
be made available to the membership through the
website shortly.
• The theme for Speech Pathology Week 2016
was set as ‘Speech Pathology - creating futures’.
Speech Pathology Week 2016 will also see the
launch of the Speech Pathology 2030 – making
futures happen final report.
The Board will next meet on Friday 5 and Saturday 6
August 2016.
Gail Mulcair
Chief Executive Officer
The second Board meeting for 2016 was held in Melbourne from 6 - 7 May 2016.
The meeting was preceded by a Speech Pathology 2030 workshop with the
Board, facilitated by Gretchen Young of Young Futures.