Speak Out August 2018

"A warm congratulations to Sharon from all at SPA, including all staff, Board and members. Sharon has been an integral member of the SPA team over the 20 years of her impressive career with SPA, and throughout has contributed at a high strategic level. While professional education and the profession’s self-regulation program have been the main focusses of Sharon’s role, her extensive experience, corporate history and professional knowledge means that she has also provided strong input and leadership to all areas of the Association's functions. Sharon’s dedication, passion and commitment always go well above and beyond, and she is highly valued in her role, as well as being appreciated as a very warm, generous and supportive colleague. Congratulations Sharon on a well deserved recognition for this wonderful achievement." Sharon’s list of accomplishments is long and well-rounded, and include establishing the Association's Facebook community pages, again in response to the needs of members. “We needed to offer something in real time, so we initiated the APPs Facebook group. It was a slow burn but it grew and grew, and then someone asked for a professional practice community group and now SPA offers a range of online community groups for members.” “We’ve always aimed to be very responsive to member feedback, for their needs and requests. We don’t pay lip service to the feedback – we really incorporate it in the planning. I hope that for CPD that the branch members, who we really try to give voice to and incorporate what they think, continues to be a priority and continues to grow, so that it is not National Office making decisions in isolation, but input from members and branches continues to grow in the planning. “We continue to look at ways that PD can be offered in an accessible way and non-geographically and non-time specific, while maintaining the option of face-to-face workshops, because they provide different more in-depth experiences. We receive the most feedback from these workshops. Some participants have walked out of a workshop and have said ‘I’m going to go and change my practice’; that feedback is great and a real highlight for me.” The longevity of Sharon’s career at SPA has not extinguished her desire to help improve the profession and help speech pathologists reach their potential. “I hope that the whole PSR certified speech pathologist brand becomes more understood and grows in credibility for the profession and the community to understand it more.” “One thing I most enjoy is working with the speech pathologists who are at the coal face, those who are out there working, are committed, and passionate, and who volunteer their time – it is amazing! It has also been a privilege to be exposed to inspiring speakers who are awesome in their skills, knowledge, experience, passion and generosity of information sharing.” Gail Mulcair Chief Executive Officer

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August 2018 www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au

Speak Out