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From the President

Welcome to the October edition of Speak Out . This edition showcases important milestones for the Association and the profession, and the intense activity of members across the country during Speech Pathology Week.

By now you will all be aware that the Senate Community Affairs References Committee has released its report following the National Inquiry into the prevalence of speech, language and swallowing disorders and speech pathology services across Australia. Included in this report were ten recommendations which have been summarised in this edition of Speak Out . Chair of the Committee, Senator Rachel Siewert, tabled this report in Parliament on 2 September with half an hour of affirmation of the importance of the Inquiry and the recommendations from fellow Senators. I am sure that those of you who listened to the speeches made by Senators about this report will agree that our profession was showcased in Parliament, and clearly held in the highest esteem by the Senators on the Committee. As a profession we must be justifiably proud of what has been achieved to date. Of course this report merely sets the stage for ongoing lobbying and activity to ensure that these recommendations come to fruition. We now await a response from the Federal government to this report. Thank you all for your enthusiasm, dedication, and contribution, and I look forward to working with you through the Association to ensure that we achieve some concrete outcomes. Speech Pathology Week has once again been a huge success with considerable activity occurring across the country to promote the Nation for Communication theme. One of the highlights of SPWeek included the launch of the Communication Matters video which aimed to raise awareness of communication impairment in residential aged care settings. I strongly advise all members to view this sensitive and powerful video. Not only is it an excellent resource for raising awareness of communication impairment in residential aged care settings but it is also a wonderful example of the impact of communication on everyone’s life. Congratulations must go to the Western Australian Branch members involved in the creation of this video – Jade Cartwright, Asher Verheggen, Ashleigh Pascoe, Gerri Harris, Virginia Paradiso, Alana Watts, and Marguerite Maggiore – for their vision and commitment to developing such an impressive resource.

Our speech pathology students again played a significant role in SPWeek with activities to raise awareness of communication impairment within their respective communities. Thank you all – the future of the profession is in good hands! The Book of the Year winners have been decided! This edition of Speak Out lists the winners in each of the five categories, ranging from a book about a ‘dirty dinosaur’ to one designed to engage male teenage indigenous readers. Congratulations to all the winners and sincere thanks to our judges. The winners will be formally announced on 14 October at the annual awards ceremony. Another achievement for the Association has been the recent elevation of our International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology ( IJSLP ) to 4th position on the list of 11 speech pathology journals in the field of Rehabilitation around the world. The impact factor of IJSLP has increased from 1.176 to 1.412 over the last year, reflecting growth in the number of articles in the journal being cited by researchers. This upward trend in the standing of the journal is an important achievement and our thanks must go to the immediate past editor, Professor Sharynne McLeod, for her leadership of the journal during this period. We look forward to this continuing trend under the new editorship of Associate Professor Kirrie Ballard and her team. A sincere thank you to the outgoing editors of the Journal of Clinical Practice in Speech- Language Pathology ( JCPSLP ), Jane McCormack and Anna Copley, for their stewardship of this journal. We welcome David Trembath as the new editor of the journal. The organisation of the 2015 National Conference is now well underway. The Conference Planning Committee has advised that the abstracts of the Keynote and Invited speakers are now available on the Conference website. All other abstracts are currently under review, and authors will be advised of their acceptance in early November 2014.

Another busy period and more to come!

Deborah Theodoros National President

Speak Out October 2014

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