Speech Pathology Australia Annual Report 2023

Supporting effective

NEW WEBSITES LAUNCHED In October 2023 the Association launched its new website including a dedicated member portal. Public website (1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023) • total website page views: 3,545,924 • unique users: 401,520. Member Portal (5 October 2023 to 31 December 2023) • page views: 110,623 • users (members): 11,974. Social media 160% increase in engagement across LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook and X (formerly Twitter). Member emails 54% open rate across all member emails (industry benchmark 37%). Traditional media Exposure increased by 29% on the previous year boosted during annual awareness raising campaigns. In collaboration with AGOSCI the Association launched the Communication Hub website, a dedicated site for people with communication support needs, their communication partners, and the wider community. The project was developed with funding via a grant from the Australian Government Department of Social Services. Since the launch an average of 4000 people have visited the site per month to learn more about communication disability by accessing resources, fact sheets and hearing from people with lived experience. MEMBER SUPPORTS Two major infrastructure projects helped us to drive change and continuous improvement. These projects included the launch of a new Engagement Management System to further protect member data and privacy, help to streamline the renewal process and offer broader payments options, among others. A new website was launched establishing a dedicated Member Portal with elevated opportunities to deliver Association news and information to members. COMMUNICATION HUB LAUNCHED

communication and swallowing

POLITICAL ADVOCACY AND GOVERNMENT RELATIONS The Association continued to advocate for policy change with local and Federal Government. In 2023 the team: • submitted 28 National submissions • submitted 11 State submissions • participated in 14 meetings with MPs and their advisors. PUTTING A SPOTLIGHT ON THE PROFESSION The Association's national awareness-raising campaigns led to increased growth in engagement across all communication channels in the media and the general community. Campaigns Our key campaigns included: • Swallowing Awareness Day • Book of the Year • Speechie Library Talks • Speech Pathology Week. The Speechie Library Talks initiative was again one of our most impactful awareness raising campaigns with more than 130 community engagement events held in public libraries across the country.100+ members volunteered to host a Speechie Library Talk at their local library to raise awareness of the role of speech pathologists in children's language and literacy development. Speech Pathology Week and Swallowing Awareness Day helped boost an overall increase in media engagement for the year by 29%. Members from all states joined in with local networking and engagement events held through their local Branch.

18 Speech Pathology Australia | 2023 Annual Report