Speak Out April 2021

Branch News

First student rep for Tasmania

Tasmania

Alex Long was recently appointed as the student representative for the Tasmania Branch and is exceptionally excited to be a part of the team, especially considering this is the first time that such a role has existed in Tasmania! Alex is a second-year Master of Speech Pathology student with Charles Sturt University and is in the process of changing careers after spending the last six years as a police officer. He is incredibly passionate about speech pathology and his passion grows further with each semester of study! He is looking forward to assisting with increasing the engagement levels of Tasmanian speech pathology students, particularly with the hopeful commencement of the University

of Tasmania’s Master of Speech Pathology course in 2022. This will be the first time that Tasmanian’s will be able to study speech pathology locally and without moving to the mainland so it is very exciting! Tasmania edges closer to state based speech pathology course It’s been years in the making and 2021 sees us edge closer to having a Tasmanian based speech pathology course. UTAS has consulted with Tasmanian speech pathologists through a series of online consultation meetings in order to ensure that they are meeting local needs in designing the curriculum. We are all eagerly awaiting the commencement of the course, due to be announced soon. There are currently 10 Tasmanian student members studying speech pathology by distance, and with the creation of the student representative role this year we are looking forward to welcoming and supporting more student members to the local branch. Tasmania – where you are not an island! Being a geographically isolated bunch and frequently finding that we are left off delivery location lists for online shopping, Tasmanians on the whole are very good at building their own communities. Speech pathologists in Tassie are no exception, with strong professional networks crossing the state in all fields of practice. There are few boundaries between public and private services in the state with many discussion groups and journal clubs connecting members regularly. With the rise of Destination Tasmania in our national consciousness - and on an international level with many Tasmanian Government state sponsored immigration visas opening up in 2021 for allied health professionals—we’ve been very lucky to see an influx of speech pathologists immigrating from "the big island" and abroad. And who wouldn’t want to come here? In Tassie you are never more than two hours’ drive from pristine coastlines, stunning rainforests or outdoor adventures. If that’s not your scene, you can find a buzzing art and culture community (think MONA) or a quiet spot to relax out of the city. And did we mention the food? We are usually a fairly adventurous bunch and our work is no different! Over 2021 we hope to share many of our members’ adventures with you as feature stories. Stay tuned for your dose of Tassie scenery!

TAS 143 members as at March 2021

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Speak Out | April 2021