Speak Out February 2021 DIGITAL EDITION

2020 in review

As 2020 proved to be a year like no other, on so many levels, many of us saw our way of living and working change dramatically—especially for those providing frontline services. As the pandemic unfolded and lockdowns occurred service provision had to adapt, one such adaptation was a call to provide more services via telepractice. In response the Association prepared and provided a suite of evidence to help ensure access to speech pathology services via telepractice through Medicare, DVA, TAC and Private Health Funds. While office-based workers didn’t face the same workplace challenges, the government work from home order still meant that changes had to be made. Indeed, many of the usual policy and advocacy activities had to cease or be altered, with in person meetings with Ministers no longer possible, appearances at public hearings switched to online, and SPA Branch Policy and Advocacy (P&A) planning forums tweaked innovatively by the Branch P&A teams to incorporate remote attendance. Public consultations; however, seemed to tick along as normal! At times it seemed that there was a never-ending call for written submissions, indeed in 2020 SPA responded to 29 consultations, nine more than the previous year. While 2020 saw the Royal Commission into Aged Care draw to a close, the Disability Royal Commission announced its request for an extension to 2023. As committees/ commissions released their final or interim reports, it was pleasing to see some direct quotes from, or references to, our written submissions. For example, there are several in New Association key documents launched New 2020 Code of Ethics In 2020, the Association launched its new Code of Ethics during a virtual event. The 2020 Code of Ethics contains updated values, principles and standards for speech pathology professional practice in Australia. New Professional Standards for all speech pathologists The Professional Standards were the result of significant input and consultation with the membership and key stakeholders and detail knowledge, skills and attributes a speech pathologist practising in Australia Policy & Advocacy

must demonstrate and apply, at any point in their career, as relevant to their speech pathology role and work context. The Professional Standards apply to all speech pathologists from 1 January 2021. Innovation awards In 2020, Professor Kirrie Ballard won the Speech Pathology Australia Innovation Award in the Research Category for her work on Say Bananas, a collaboration between speech pathologists, engineers and computer scientists, to develop an interactive video-gaming system for remote tablet-based speech therapy.

Michael Kerrisk Communications and Marketing Manager

the Joint Standing Committee on the NDIS’s reports regarding the NDIS Planning Inquiry and its NDIS Workforce

interim report and the Disability Royal Commission’s interim report directly quotes SPA twice with our submissions referenced a further nine times. As to public hearings, SPA representatives, Gail Mulcair and Jane Delaney, were invited to provide evidence to the Inquiry by the House Standing Committee on Employment, Education and Training into education in remote and complex environments and they did this remotely on 2 September. And finally, as always, the Association collaborated closely with Allied Health Professions Australia throughout the year on several important issues, including the proposal to introduce Independent Assessments into the NDIS. We expect this will be a key area of focus for our advocacy efforts in 2021. With the appointment of Dr Anne-marie Boxall as Commonwealth Chief Allied Health Officer, our CEO Gail Mulcair has worked hard to establish a productive relationship with this important new role, with a number of speech pathology specific consultations and meetings already secured with the new CAHO. So, as we start a new year, we hope it proves to be better for us all, on a global and local level, and we look forward to continuing our policy and advocacy work on behalf of you and your clients. The Policy and Advocacy team

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February 2021 | Speak Out