Annual Report 2015 Speech Pathology Australia

Speech Pathology Australia National President Gaenor Dixon, Kylie Webb (speech pathologist, SLQ), authors Nicki Greenberg, Stephen Michael King, Lisa Shanahan, Ross Duncan (SLQ), Gregg Dreise (at back), Speech Pathology Australia CEO Gail Mulcair, and Dan Georgeson (SLQ).

Book of the Year The Book of the Year Awards were an outstanding success in 2015, with the awards ceremony hosted for the first time by the State Library of Queensland. In its twelfth year, the awards were proudly supported by Let’s Read, a national early literacy initiative that promotes reading with children from birth. Let’s Read was developed by the Centre for Community Child Health at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) and The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne. Five deserving books were awarded for their contribution to language and literacy development. Birth to 3 years: Snail and Turtle and Friends by Stephen Michael King Three to 5 years: Teddy Took the Train by Nicki Greenberg Five to 8 years: Big Pet Day by Lisa Shanahan (Illustrations by Gus Gordon) Eight to 10 years: Plenty – A Place to Call Home by Ananda Braxton-Smith Indigenous children : Silly Birds by Gregg Dreise (Illustrations by Gregg Dreise). Best Start with the State Library of Queensland ‘Best Start’ is a universal early intervention family literacy program led by the State Library of Queensland, aimed at supporting stronger language and literacy environments for young children in Queensland from 0-5 years. The program is delivered in partnership with public libraries to directly support parents and primary caregivers as the child’s first and most important teacher. Kylie Webb, speech pathologist and Association member, was seconded by the State Library of Queensland to consult on the ‘Best Start’ initiative. Arising from this initiative was the development and release of the ‘First 5 Forever’ toolkit for parents, which included the Association’s Book of the Year 2014 winner in the Birth to 3 Years category – I am a Dirty Dinosaur . The Association has endorsed the toolkit and related resources. As part of this, the Association’s logo appears on the collateral in the toolkit.

Speech Pathology Week Speech Pathology Week seeks to promote the speech pathology profession and the work done by speech pathologists for people with communication and swallowing disorders. The theme for Speech Pathology Week in 2015 was Talk With Me . The Talk With Me theme in 2015 was to allow Association members and the State Branches the opportunity to promote all the different aspects of the speech pathology profession, the work that the profession does, and the various settings in which the work is undertaken. For the first time, the Association conducted a national postcard campaign to specifically promote awareness of Speech Pathology Week and the speech pathology profession more generally. The nationwide campaign involved the distribution of around 140,000 postcards across 1500 venues in all states and territories. The postcards were on display throughout the month of August, which included the formal Speech Pathology Week.

8 2015 ANNUAL REPORT Speech Pathology Australia