Speak Out
October 2014
3
From the President
Welcome to the October edition of
Speak Out
. This edition
showcases important milestones for the Association and
the profession, and the intense activity of members across
the country during Speech Pathology Week.
By now you will all be aware that the Senate
Community Affairs References Committee has
released its report following the
National Inquiry
into the prevalence of speech, language and
swallowing disorders and speech pathology
services across Australia. Included in this report
were ten recommendations which have been
summarised in this edition of
Speak Out
. Chair of
the Committee, Senator Rachel Siewert, tabled this
report in Parliament on 2 September with half an
hour of affirmation of the importance of the Inquiry
and the recommendations from fellow Senators.
I am sure that those of you who listened to the
speeches made by Senators about this report
will agree that our profession was showcased in
Parliament, and clearly held in the highest esteem
by the Senators on the Committee. As a profession
we must be justifiably proud of what has been
achieved to date. Of course this report merely sets
the stage for ongoing lobbying and activity to ensure
that these recommendations come to fruition. We
now await a response from the Federal government
to this report. Thank you all for your enthusiasm,
dedication, and contribution, and I look forward to
working with you through the Association to ensure
that we achieve some concrete outcomes.
Speech Pathology Week
has once again
been a huge success with considerable activity
occurring across the country to promote the
Nation for Communication
theme. One of the
highlights of SPWeek included the launch of the
Communication Matters
video which aimed to
raise awareness of communication impairment
in residential aged care settings. I strongly advise
all members to view this sensitive and powerful
video. Not only is it an excellent resource for
raising awareness of communication impairment
in residential aged care settings but it is also a
wonderful example of the impact of communication
on everyone’s life. Congratulations must go to the
Western Australian Branch members involved in
the creation of this video – Jade Cartwright, Asher
Verheggen, Ashleigh Pascoe, Gerri Harris, Virginia
Paradiso, Alana Watts, and Marguerite Maggiore –
for their vision and commitment to developing such
an impressive resource.
Our speech pathology students again played a
significant role in SPWeek with activities to raise
awareness of communication impairment within
their respective communities. Thank you all – the
future of the profession is in good hands!
The
Book of the Year winners
have been decided!
This edition of
Speak Out
lists the winners in each
of the five categories, ranging from a book about
a ‘dirty dinosaur’ to one designed to engage male
teenage indigenous readers. Congratulations to all
the winners and sincere thanks to our judges. The
winners will be formally announced on 14 October
at the annual awards ceremony.
Another achievement for the Association has been
the recent elevation of our
International Journal
of Speech-Language Pathology
(
IJSLP
) to 4th
position on the list of 11 speech pathology journals
in the field of Rehabilitation around the world. The
impact factor of
IJSLP
has increased from 1.176
to 1.412 over the last year, reflecting growth in the
number of articles in the journal being cited by
researchers. This upward trend in the standing
of the journal is an important achievement and
our thanks must go to the immediate past editor,
Professor Sharynne McLeod, for her leadership of
the journal during this period. We look forward to
this continuing trend under the new editorship of
Associate Professor Kirrie Ballard and her team.
A sincere thank you to the outgoing editors of
the
Journal of Clinical Practice in Speech-
Language Pathology
(
JCPSLP
), Jane McCormack
and Anna Copley, for their stewardship of this
journal. We welcome David Trembath as the new
editor of the journal.
The organisation of the
2015 National Conference
is now well underway. The Conference Planning
Committee has advised that the abstracts of the
Keynote and Invited speakers are now available
on the Conference website. All other abstracts are
currently under review, and authors will be advised
of their acceptance in early November 2014.
Another busy period and more to come!
Deborah Theodoros
National President
