Speak Out April 2016

BRANCH news tasmania

Where Does Speech Pathology Fit Into Your Life?

lifespan to support communication and swallowing. We plan frequent, small campaigns, often partnered with other organisations as they undertake their health promotion activities. We want Tasmanians to see how diverse and foundational our work is. A Facebook page has been started (search for Where Does Speech Pathology Fit – and ‘Like’ it) and there will be more social media and other media as the campaign rolls along. Many members have indicated over the past 18 months they would like to be involved in the Branch activities, but they are unable to commit to regular meetings and positions on the executive. We had these needs in mind as we planned and plotted at Hadley’s. So now we need you! WDSPFIYL will certainly need extra hands-on-deck if it is to be successful and to reach as many Tasmanians as we'd like to. If you are passionate about a particular area of SP work, and would like to lead or be involved with a small and circumscribed project in that area, please let us now. Contact any of us on the executive. There is lots of scope, and lots of latitude. More specific details about how you can be involved will be posted under the Tas Branch e-News. Anything is possible! EVERYTHING is possible!

Cast your minds back Tassie speech pathologists to September last year when many of us gathered in gorgeous Hadley’s, Hobart, to ponder and plan our direction as an organisation. Those who were there will recall that the discussions and deliberations led to a plan, which Julie Douglas aptly named 'Where Does Speech Pathology Fit Into Your Life?' For those not there, you may remember reading a little about it in Speak Out or e-news; and for others, you may be reading about this project for the first time. So here’s a little of the back story. In gathering at Hadley’s, along with Gail Mulcair, Michael Kerrisk and the generous and Honourable Nicola Roxon, we were seeking to brainstorm and be clear about focus for Branch activities over the coming three years. We sought information and direction to be most supportive and relevant to Tassie speech pathologists. The overarching questions were about how members would like to be represented by the Branch. By the time we had worked through an agenda designed to inspire, we had landed on 'Where Does Speech Pathology Fit Into Your Life?' The group came to consensus on the importance of raising the public profile of the profession and its many facets. So the plan behind WDSPFIYL is that over three years, using consistent branding, we will bring information to the Tasmanian public about how speech pathologists work across the entire

Rosie Martin Tasmania Branch Chair

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Speak Out April 2016

www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au