Responses to common questions asked by SPA’s members
What policy and advocacy work is SPA doing on regulation?
No proposals for changes to the regulation of the speech pathologist workforce have been made by policy developers or government decision makers. However, broader discussions about health professional regulation are occurring in the external policy environment. It is crucial for SPA and speech pathologists to be involved in these conversations. Our profession must be able to meaningfully engage to inform any regulatory decisions that could impact us.
Our goals: educate the speech pathology profession about regulation, ensure we have a seat at the table for any potential discussions, understand the profession's needs, and advocate on their behalf.
We are therefore developing a new project about the regulation of speech pathologists. This includes providing educative material about regulation of health professionals, establishing a members’ Regulation Advisory Committee, and in future, seeking comments and input from speech pathologists.
SPA’s submissions to consultations on Scope of Practice and NDIS provider registration, which discuss speech pathologist regulation, are available on our website.
Has Speech Pathology Australia advocated for statutory regulation before?
Yes, Speech Pathology Australia has advocated for statutory regulation in the past. Speech Pathology Australia has sought for speech pathologists to be regulated under the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (NRAS) three times. NRAS is the framework overseeing the regulation of what are commonly referred to as the 16 ‘Ahpra-registered’ professions in Australia.
Requests made in 2008 and 2011 were unsuccessful. The issue was raised again in 2014 as part of the Review of the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme.
The primary reason provided for the decisions not to regulate speech pathologists under NRAS was that the six criteria for assessing the need for statutory regulation of health occupations were not met.
Most notably, the activities of speech pathologists were not deemed to pose significant risk of harm to the health and safety of the public, and, as speech pathologists work in a range of sectors, it was not clear whether it was appropriate for Health Ministers to exercise responsibility for regulating the occupation.
Will SPA advocate for regulation under NRAS/Ahpra again?
At present, SPA does not have a position on the type of regulatory model that would be best. SPA will undertake consultation to understand our profession’s key requirements, and work with the allied health sector to put these requirements forward.
What would a move to statutory regulation of speech pathologists mean for SPA?
A move to statutory regulation would require SPA to change some of its operations. The details of the changes will be influenced by the type of regulatory model required.