Overseas qualification competency
assessment application

Phase 1 Application Guide

The role of Speech Pathology Australia

Speech pathologists in Australia are university educated allied health professionals with expertise in the assessment and treatment of communication and swallowing difficulties.

Speech Pathology Australia is the national peak body for the speech pathology profession in Australia. Speech Pathology Australia:

• sets the professional standards for the practice of speech pathology in Australia;
• accredits the university courses which educate speech pathologists in Australia;
• is the assessing authority for speech pathologists applying for skilled migration to Australia;
• assesses applications from any person with an overseas qualification who wishes to practise as a speech pathologist in Australia.

The minimum skills, knowledge and attitudes required for entry-level practice of speech pathology in Australia are set out in the Competency-Based Occupational Standards for Speech Pathologists: Entry-Level (2011, revised 2017). This document is also referred to as the CBOS. These standards are applied against the purposes listed above.

Speech pathologists who are assessed as meeting the professional standards of Speech Pathology Australia will be eligible for Certified Practising Membership of Speech Pathology Australia.

Certified Practising Membership

Most employers in Australia will require you to be eligible for Certified Practising Membership of Speech Pathology Australia. However, achieving eligibility for Certified Practising membership does not automatically entitle you to employment and is not a job offer.

Eligibility for Certified Practising Membership does not ensure that your application to migrate to Australia will be successful. Approval for migration is the responsibility of the Australian Government Department of Home Affairs.

If your application for Speech Pathology Australia membership is approved, you will remain eligible for Certified Practising membership for two (2) years from the date of approval. During that time, you can use the assessment for the purposes of migration or to join Speech Pathology Australia. You must also commence practice in Australia as a speech pathologist. Your eligibility for Certified Practising membership will expire at the end of the two-year period unless you are able to provide additional evidence to show that you should remain eligible to practice.

1. Before You Apply

You should apply for Phase 1 of the Overseas Qualification Competency Assessment if:

• your qualifications are comparable to those of speech pathologists trained in Australia;
• you have the ability to use English effectively in the Australian speech pathology context;
• you have practised as a speech pathologist for at least 1000 hours in the last five years, if you graduated more than five years ago; or you have a minimum of 12months practice experience if you graduated less than five years ago.
• you can provide a portfolio of evidence which demonstrates your skills and knowledge are at least equivalent to the standards described in the CBOS (2011, revised 2017).

All these conditions must be met for you to be assessed for Certified Practising Membership of the Association.

Please submit all electronic submissions of your completed application, including supporting documentation and identity evidence by email.

Please ensure all supporting documentation is high quality, full colour scans, at 300dpi or greater. For official identity documents i.e. passport, and driver licence (or other photo identification), please submit a photograph, rather than a photocopy to ensure this is of adequate quality. Please ensure the entire document is visible in all photographs, including all edges. If there are any issues with the quality of the scanned or photo identity documents, you may be asked to re-submit them.

You can upload your documents into a Dropbox folder, we do not accept Google Drive folders.

1.1 Your qualifications

Your speech pathology qualifications must be comparable to those of speech pathologists trained in Australia. This comparison is made using the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF). The minimum qualification accepted in Australia is a Bachelor's degree, which is classified as AQF 7.

Your qualification(s) must;

• be specific to speech pathology practice;
• include components of supervised clinical experiences;
• be comparable with the Australian Qualification Framework definition of AQF 7. Compare your qualifications with the AQF definitions prior to submitting your application to confirm that they are at least equivalent to the Australian minimum.

1.2 English language competence

Many languages other than English are used in Australia. Speech Pathology Australia is keen to increase the number of languages in which competent clinical practice is available, but this does not replace or remove the requirement for competent professional use of English. Speech pathologists in Australia need to work with English as the vehicle of communication and as the focus of assessment and treatment.

Applicants are exempt from providing evidence of English language competence if they hold an entry level speech pathology qualification conducted in English, from a university in the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, United States of America, or the Republic of Ireland.

If any aspect of your application raises concerns about your English language competence, you will be asked for additional information about your competence in English or directed to complete English language testing, even if you indicated that your dominant language is English.

All other applicants will need to provide evidence of successfully meeting English language requirements by successfully completing either the Occupational English Test (OET) for Speech Pathology or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) - Academic Test.

Your English language skills must remain current during the application period (which can take up to two years if your portfolio is not acceptable). You may be asked to provide evidence of the maintenance of your English language competence.

1.2.1 Occupational English test requirements (OET)

The OET provides a global evaluation of the applicant's ability to use English in professionally relevant reading, writing, listening and speaking tasks. It also considers features such as naturalness and general effectiveness.

Speech Pathology Australia requires a "superior" English level, with at least two subtest results in the Band 450 - 500 and two subtest results in the Band 400-500.

• You must achieve the OET requirements before submitting your application.
• OET results must be available through the OET website on the date of your application. The results must be no more than 6 months old at the date of submission.
• You may have no more than two attempts at the OET in six months. You must be tested on all four components in each sitting.
• Your application will not be accepted if you have NOT achieved the required OET results.

You will be responsible for meeting the cost of sitting the OET.

Further information regarding the OET: http://www.occupationalenglishtest.org/

1.2.2 International English Language Testing System - Academic Test requirements (IELTS)

The IELTS is a globally recognised assessment that provides an evaluation of the applicant's English skills across writing, reading, listening, and speaking. Speech Pathology Australia requires a "superior" English level with an overall band score of 8 required on IELTS Academic test. Two sub-band scores must be 8.5 or above and two scores 7.5 or above, with an overall score of 8.0. You must achieve the IELTS requirements before submitting your application.

• Test results will be accepted if they were obtained within two years before the date you lodge your application.
• IELTS results must be available through the IELTS website on the date of your application.
• Test results must be achieved in one test sitting; or combined scores from two testing sittings within a six-month period; or from an IELTS One Skill Retake test.
• Your application will not be accepted if you have NOT achieved the required IELTSresults.

You will be responsible for meeting the cost of sitting the IELTS.

Further information regarding the IELTS: https://ielts.com.au/australia

1.2.3 English language competence for skilled migration

The requirements for Skilled Migration visas are DIFFERENT to the requirements for Certified Practising Membership of Speech Pathology Australia. The Department of Home Affairs requires demonstration of 'competent' English. A higher level of English language competence is required for the practice of speech pathology in Australia.

Applicants who hold a valid passport from, and are citizens of, one of the countries listed below automatically satisfy the English language requirements for skilled migration and will not be required to complete the OET or IELTS unless there are aspects of your application raising concerns about English language competence.

• United Kingdom (UK)
• Canada
• New Zealand
• United States of America (USA)
• Republic of Ireland.

For further information concerning skilled migration refer to the Department of Home Affairs.

2. Definition of speech pathology practice

2.1 Minimum levels of practice and recency of practice

The evidence of your competence must be primarily derived from your speech pathology practice. We require all applicants to have worked as a speech pathologist (or equivalent). Applicants with less than 1000 hours or 12 months experience are not eligible to apply.

If you have worked for more than five years, you must provide evidence that you have practised for at least 1000 hours in the last five years. For recency of practice purposes, speech pathology practice is defined as engagement in activities of speech pathology as a practitioner, administrator, manager, educator, researcher or any combination of these.

Practising speech pathologists generally receive remuneration. Some examples of speech pathology practice are provided below.

• Direct client related activities including work with the client and/or the client's significant others (e.g., parent, spouse, carer, medical practitioner, teacher).
• Non-direct contact activities which support service to the client, such as report writing and session preparation, and the maintenance of the practice. These should not be in excess of 50% of hours counted. Travel time which is directly related to client contact or practice maintenance (e.g. a home visit or school visit, collection of work material for the client) is countable. Travel to and from your place of work is not countable.
• Attendance at professional development related to speech pathology practice including attendance at workshops or conferences, independent study, mentoring, and formal study. Travel for professional development is not countable.
• Administration / Management which involves significant clinical supervision of speech pathologists and the management of speech pathology service delivery, and/or where the position is significantly in and/or related to speech pathology.
• Education and research in discipline-specific or inter-professional teaching and research settings where the position is significant and/or related to speech pathology.

2.1.2 Acceptable evidence of hours of speech pathology practice

• If you are an employee, an outline of the 'practising' hours, along with a position description showing hours of employment, letter from employer, statutory declaration or similar documentation.
• If you are not an employee (for example if you work in private practice), a statutory declaration outlining the "practising" hours and attesting to meeting them supported by other documentation i.e. information from an accountant.

(A statutory declaration is a written legal statement which you sign and declare to be true before an authorised witness in your country)

3. How your application will be processed

We will notify you of receipt of your application at Speech Pathology Australia's National Office within one week of its receipt.

The Panel may contact you to clarify specific points or to request supplementary evidence. It is therefore important that you provide current, accurate contact details. An email address which you check regularly will allow us to communicate directly with you.

All the documentation and evidence in your portfolio will be checked for fraudulent representation. Any evidence of this will result in refusal to process the documents and your application will not proceed further.

The Panel will provide written feedback on your first and any subsequent submissions of evidence within 10 weeks of receiving your complete application. If your submission is not successful, your feedback will list the area(s) that did and did not meet requirements.

You may submit additional evidence on two further occasions following feedback from the Panel.

The time required for assessment of your application depends on the thoroughness of your evidence and how quickly you respond to questions or clarify ambiguities

The processing of your assessment and submissions of additional evidence must be concluded within two years of your original application.

We allow this time-frame to enable you to gather additional evidence and/or undertake further training, testing or professional development in order to meet requirements.

4. Appeals process for unsuccessful applications

Speech Pathology Australia will only consider an appeal of the outcome of unsuccessful applications under the following circumstances.

• The assessment procedures and processes as approved by Speech Pathology Australia have not been implemented or adhered to in the established manner or format.
• There is proven prejudice or bias exhibited by the Professional Recognition Panel or an individual Professional Recognition Assessor in the undertaking of the assessment.
• Significant new information or documentation becomes available after the assessment process which would add to or change the applicant's claims and capacities to demonstrate competence in the practice of the profession.

The appeal process is not to be used by applicants as an alternative to the established assessment process. A review cannot reverse or change the decision of the Professional Recognition Panel, nor will it exempt an applicant from any component of the assessment process. The review can only request that the assessment process be repeated or that it does not proceed.

An appeal will NOT be considered on the basis of:

• disputing or questioning the standards set;
• disputing or questioning the assessment process as established by Speech Pathology Australia; and/or
• contesting the nature and extent of the information and advice provided to the applicant.

The three examples provided above for the rejection of an appeal are a non-exhaustive list of circumstances where the threshold requirement for an appeal is not met.

4.1 Timeline and sequence of the appeal process

An appeal against Speech Pathology Australia's decision must be made within 28 days of the date of receiving the letter stating that your assessment was unsuccessful.

You must lodge your appeal in writing and directed to the Chief Executive Officer of Speech Pathology Australia. The reason for the appeal must be clearly stated.

The Appeal Application Fee is 25% of the initial application fee and must be paid at the time of submitting the written appeal. To arrange payment please contact [email protected]

The Appeal Application Fee is only refundable if the appeal is upheld.

Speech Pathology Australia will forward confirmation that the appeal has been received within ten days of receipt of the appeal information.

The Appeal Committee may take up to three months to provide a decision.

4.2 The appeal committee

The Appeal Committee consists of three voting members of the Association and will include a Board member and two senior members of the profession.

The Appeal Committee has access to the Manager of Professional Standards and a Professional Recognition Assessor who was not involved in the original assessment for advice on technical process and content issues only.

The Appeal Committee meets in person or by teleconference, as required.

The Appeal Committee may permit you to appear personally to present your case. Any costs incurred will be at your own expense.

No legal representation before the Appeal Committee will be permitted. If your review is upheld and you are permitted a re-assessment, you must comply with the conditions, directions and time periods imposed by the Appeal Committee.

4.3 The outcome of the appeal

The appeal process has the capacity to review the circumstances of your application. The appeal outcome may:

• set aside the assessment outcome and direct that a new assessment process is undertaken on the disputed aspect of the assessment without any further cost to you; or,
• direct a new Professional Recognition Panel to review the case in light of the information available and confirm the result without any further cost to you; or,
• reject the review on the grounds that the circumstances for the appeal have not been clearly established.

5. References

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. (2019). 7th edition, American Psychological Association.

McAllister, S., Lincoln, M., Ferguson, A. & McAllister, L. (2013) (2nd ed) COMPASS®: Competency assessment in speech pathology assessment resource manual: excerpt professional competencies. Melbourne: Speech Pathology Australia

Speech Pathology Australia (2011 revised 2017), Competency based Occupational Standards for Speech Pathologists - Entry Level. Melbourne, Australia. The Speech Pathology Association of Australia Ltd.

Speech Pathology Australia, Dysphagia Clinical Guideline. Melbourne, Australia. The Speech Pathology Association of Australia Ltd.

World Health Organization (2011), International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), Geneva: WHO Retrieved 2/10/2013 http://www.who.int/classifications/icf/en/