What’s your strategy for implementation?

What is your strategy for familiarising and implementing the new Professional Standards, discussing them with your team, and reflecting and reviewing your progress?

Get familiar with the Professional Standards

Print out and laminate the Overview of the Professional Standards This graphic is associated with the hyperlink that precedes it and indicates the document is in PDF. and make it visible in your setting.

Start familiarising yourself and your team with the language of the new standards. For example:

  • Domains, Standards, Elements
  • Professional Conduct, Reflective Practice and Life-long Learning, Speech Pathology Practice
  • Communication and swallowing
  • Individuals and communities
  • Supervision and Mentoring
  • Review the glossary for all bolded text

Use the new terminology with your colleagues and students. For example:

“My digital literacy has really improved with all the tele-practice I’ve done this year”

“Our practice will be reviewing our processes to ensure we’re providing culturally safe and responsive services”

“Offering student placements supports the development of our profession”

Discuss and share with your team

Schedule meetings with your team to discuss the Standards.

  • Discuss one of the three Domains each week over three weeks.
  • Consider your context and role. Does it differ across your team?
  • Explore which Standards are immediately relevant to the work you do.
  • Consider if there are any Standards which you need to explore further, to ensure you’re able to meet them.

Reflect and review

Review your work against the Standards and consider how you’re tracking individually and in your collaborations with others.

  • Consider if there’s anything more you can do to enhance your practise.
  • Ask speech pathology students to provide feedback on your practise and context against the Standards at the end of a placement.
  • Consider if the Professional Standards could be referenced in any policies, surveys, forms, performance reviews or other HR processes you regularly use in your workplace.

Do you have more questions about the Professional Standards? Visit Frequently Asked Questions to find the answers.