Speak Up

In this week’s episode, we speak with Dr Margaret Lehman Blake, Dr Ronelle Hewetson, and Dr Amanda Love about the hidden communication challenges that can follow a right hemisphere stroke. They discuss key research findings, the emerging framework of apragmatism, best-practice assessment approaches, and why greater awareness is needed to improve outcomes for individuals and their families. Resourc...

In this week’s episode, SPA First Nations Lead Nikita and our guests discuss how we can improve speech, language, and communication outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the early years of language development. The panel of researchers and clinicians share practical tips and resources to support and improve culturally safe and responsive practice. Resources: Hunt-Madden, C...

In this week’s episode, Jess speaks with Jenny Wills and Deb Cunningham about their research and work with people with facial palsy. They discuss the complexities of living with facial palsy and how speech pathologists interested in this practice area can upskill and provide comprehensive, person-centred support. Resources: Wills, J., Cunningham, D., & Forsberg, G. (2026). The SLP facial therapist...

In this week’s episode, podcast producers Jess and Nadia are joined by national advisor MJ to discuss inclusive, accessible service design. We feature two recordings from the recent SPA 2026 conference and reflect on the way our services can be enhanced with systemic change focussed on equality. Free access to transcripts, as well as a full list of resources and references for this podcast, is ava...

In this week’s episode, Dr Ramas McRae joins us to recognise International Week of Deaf People and the International Day of Sign Languages. He explores how communication access and inclusion influence the wellbeing of Deaf people, and shares ways speech pathologists can support inclusion and be effective allies. Dr McRae participates in this conversation using Auslan. We encourage you to access th...

In this week’s episode, Jess speaks with Professor Mark Onslow, Director of the Australian Stuttering Research Centre at the University of Technology in Sydney. Mark discusses practical strategies for clinicians who find themselves needing to answer the question, “why did my child start to stutter?” Resources: Franken, M. C., Hearne, A., Jelčić Jakšić, S., Neef, N. E., & Onslow, M. (2025). Contemp...

In this week’s episode, Jess speaks with Emma Dalley, Principal Lawyer at Industry Legal Group about navigating employment contracts and independent contractor agreements. SPA resources: Find more information about Industry Legal Group on the SPA website: https://www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au/Public/Member-Services/Member-benefits/Industry-Legal-Group.aspx Speech Pathology Australia acknowle...

In this week’s episode, Jess is joined by Ailbhe Cowley and Éadaoin Flynn to discuss their research into how performing arts classes may support functional communication for people with Parkinson’s disease. They discuss the classes attended by people with Parkinson’s disease and their loved ones and share insights from participant surveys on perceived changes in speech and communication. Resources...

In this week’s episode we are celebrating speech pathology week. Podcast producers, Jess, Nathan and Nadia reflect on the 2026 SPA week theme “communication creates possibility” and how this was reflected in the 2024 SPA week conversation “Communicate your way.” Where spoke with speech pathologists Janelle Sampson (she/her), Cicely Binford (she/her), Niall Taylor (he/she) and Subha Mohan (she/her)...

In this week’s episode, Jess speaks with Ashleigh McLeod and Professor Jo Watson about how we can support people with complex communication needs (CCN) to make choices about where and how they live. Resources: McLeod, A., Froude, E., Watson, J., & Berg, N. (2026). Speech language pathologists’ perspectives of supporting people with complex communication needs to make decisions about where and how...

In this week’s episode, Jess speaks with Morgan Carter, Troy Walker, and Alison Spence about a novel means of embedding Indigenous ways into a dietetics curriculum. They discuss what their curriculum entailed, and the many ways that it could be generalised into other allied health education curricula. SPA Resources: Lowitja Institute research guides and reading lists - https://learninghub.speechpa...

In this week’s episode we're joined by Kirsty McGovern-Hooley (RSM Australia), Dr Erin West (SPA), Georgia Cunningham (ORS Group) and Kate Pollard (Melaleuca Therapies) to discuss the latest NDIS reforms and what they mean for speech pathology practices, providers and participants. Together, they explore the proposed NDIS Bill 2026, pricing and compliance changes, business sustainability, advocacy...

In this week’s episode, we speak with Professor Kirrie Ballad and Associate Professor Beena Ahmed about the opportunities that exist for speech pathologists to collaborate with engineers and how technology, and especially AI can support us to support others. Speech Pathology Australia acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of lands, seas and waters throughout Australia, and offers our respect to...

In this week’s episode, Jess speaks with Dr Natalie Douglas who shares practical tips and advice for speech pathologists supporting communication partners caring for people with dementia. Resources: Preferences for Everyday Living Inventory (PELI) https://www.preferencebasedliving.com/for-practitioners/practitioner/assessment/ Montessori for Dementia, Ageing & Adult Care | Montessori Australia htt...

In this week's episode, we speak with Jannis Hansa, speech pathologist, epidemiologist and researcher at the University of Applied Sciences Osnabrück in Germany, about the use of virtual reality (VR) to support real-world generalisation in voice therapy. Jannis discusses the challenge of helping clients apply therapy skills in everyday situations, how immersive VR environments can simulate real-li...

In this week’s episode, we are celebrating NAIDOC Week. SPA’s First Nations Lead, Nikita Westbury, speaks with Professor Chelsea Watego, a Munanjali and South Sea Islander woman with a career spanning 20 years in Indigenous healthcare, research, advocacy, and innovation. Nikita and Chelsea discuss what transformative change looks like when we talk about eliminating racism, facilitating self-determ...

In this week’s rebroadcast, Anneke Flinn and Robyn Stephen, Director and Principal Clinician at Melbourne Child Development, and Speech Pathology consultant at Melbourne Paediatric Specialists, discuss the speech pathologist’s role in Autism diagnosis. SPA and the presenters of this podcast acknowledge that this episode was originally recorded in 2024. As terminology and perspectives evolve over t...

In this rebroadcast episode from Season 6, members of SPA’s early career and podcast reference groups, Brittany Fong and Lauren Osborne, speak with mental health occupational therapist Michelle Bihary. They discuss the mental and emotional “wear and tear” of working in healthcare and practical self-care strategies. The episode opens with a reflection from SPA’s Immediate Past President, Kathryn Mc...

In this week’s episode, we’re celebrating Pride Month. Jess is joined by Majella Jones, dietitian and PhD candidate, to discuss their research on improving education outcomes and student confidence when working with transgender and gender diverse people. They explore how embedding discipline specific content into core curricula can create more inclusive, competent future practitioners. Speech Path...

In this week’s episode, we discuss the mental health needs of people with complex communication support needs (CCN). We speak with Nerida Kho, speech pathologist, and Connor Bryant, counsellor, both from CEQ about what they have learned while supporting the unmet mental health needs of people with CCN. They speak about the challenges of adapting complex concepts, like emotions into multimodal comm...

In this week’s episode, we speak with Dr Emma Kate Thome from Boys Town National Research Hospital in the USA about identifying and managing pseudoscientific practices in speech pathology. Dr Thome shares what pseudoscience is, why it can be appealing to both practitioners and service users, and the real-world risks it poses to evidence-based care. For access to the STOP scale, contact Dr Thome at...

In this week’s episode, we celebrate National Reconciliation Week with a conversation led by SPA’s First Nations Lead, proud Wonnarua woman Nikita Austin. Joining Nikita are Bronte Ramm, a proud Murri woman, speech pathologist and counsellor, and Olivia Coe Fox, a proud Wiradjuri woman, aspiring teacher, and the first person to sing in an Aboriginal language on The Voice Australia. Olivia, Bronte...

In this week’s episode, Liz Bell and Dr Rosemary Hodges speak with guest host Olivia Parkinson, about delivering supports in therapeutic blocks. Rosie and Liz, discuss some of the enables and barriers to shifting to a model of therapy blocks, as well as some of the benefits they have encountered. Liz and Rosie also discuss how to select, or design PROMs to most accurately measure and report the pr...

In this week’s episode, we speak with Professor Nerina Scarinci, who will be delivering the Elizabeth Usher memorial lecture at the SPA Conference in Yugembah, also known as the Gold Coast, in June this year. Nerina speaks about the way that centring relationships can result in improvement in the services we deliver. Nerina discusses how relationship centred care can support cultural safety from t...

In this week’s episode we speak with the authors of “Navigating choice: eating, drinking, and decision-making at end of life for individuals with cognitive impairment” about the vital role speech pathologist play in end-of-life and palliative care. Dr Laura Chahda, Laura Knauer, Darcy Long, Druvni Perera, and Sanora Yonan discuss their recent publication, and how we as speech pathologists can feel...