SpeakOut_Feb2014_electronic

ASSOCIATION NEWS

The Nadia Verrall Memorial Research Grant: One grant will be awarded up to a maximum of $5,000. This grant is awarded to research applications focusing on children with communication disorders and their families. The Association is dedicated to supporting the development of evidence-based data relevant to communication and swallowing disorders and was very pleased with the high number of grant applications in 2013. Priority will be given to research applications that align with the Association’s strategic plan. Please refer to the SPA website for application details and closing dates. We look forward to receiving your research grant applications soon. GAIL MULCAIR Chief Executive Officer NOMINATIONS ARE NOW being called for members to join the Association’s Fellowship Committee. The Fellowship Committee comprises seven members – including the Vice President Communications, three Speech Pathology Australia Fellows, and three non- Fellows appointed by the Board of Directors. Each position on the Committee is for a period of three to five years. The Committee’s purpose is to review applications for transfer to Fellowship and make recommendations to the Board of Directors. As part of this responsibility, the Committee may be required to review the processes involved in evaluating nominations for transfer to Fellowship. It is expected that the members nominated will have had considerable expertise, over a period of time, in the profession through avenues such as clinical practice and leadership, clinical education and supervision and/or academic teaching. Members who feel qualified to make a significant contribution to the Fellowship Committee’s deliberations should nominate using the form available from National Office ( execassist@speechpathologyaustralia.org. au ) or downloaded from the website. Each nomination should include a brief summary of no more than one page, detailing their professional qualifications and experience. Please note: The consent of the person who is being nominated must be obtained before the nomination is submitted. A member may nominate him/herself for the Fellowship Committee. Nominations close 31 March 2014 . All nominations will be acknowledged. Fellowship Committee

Senate Inquiry update Submissions closed 21 February.

IN LINE WITH the Association’s commitment to promoting and funding high quality research, we are pleased to offer research grants in the following categories for 2014. Clinician Research Grants: Two grants will be awarded, one of a maximum value of $5,000 and one to a maximum value of $10,000. These grants are available for clinically based research and are not available for research related to postgraduate studies or research undertaken by an academic. Postgraduate Research Grant: Two grants will be awarded, one of a maximum value of $5,000 and one of a maximum value of $10,000. These grants are available to speech pathologists enrolled in postgraduate studies. Undergraduate Research Grant: Four grants will be awarded of up to $600 each. These grants are available to entry-level students enrolled in a research program. 2014 Research Grant Program We need your help in providing the Committee with possible site visits that highlight exceptional services or programs, or lack of services. Email your ideas to execassist@speech pathologyaustralia.org.au / jwood@speechpathology australia.org.au before Friday 14 March . I look forward to continuing to update you about the progress of this important opportunity. GAIL MULCAIR Chief Executive Officer CONGRATULATIONS! Despite the tight timeline, the speech pathology profession has pulled together to provide the Senate Community Affairs References Committee comprehensive information upon which to begin their investigations. Thank you to everybody who encouraged their workplace or clients to make a submission, spread the message through their networks, transcribed a client’s story, offered assistance to the Association or wrote a submission themselves. Your support and encouragement during this process has been overwhelming. On behalf of the Board of Directors and everyone at National Office, thank you. The Senate website displays all the submissions made to the Inquiry, including the submission Speech Pathology Australia made on members’ and the profession’s behalf. You can find a link to the page, as well as a copy of our submission on the Senate Inquiry page of our website. From here, the Senate Committee will review the submissions and begin planning public hearings. Based on the information they have received and in consultation with SPA, dates and locations will be formed and we expect that the hearings will take place in April/May.

4 Speak Out February 2014

Speech Pathology Australia