Advocacy wins for speech pathology in aged care

  1. Aged Care Rules to be amended to include self-regulated allied health professionals such as speech pathologists

    We are pleased to see amendments will be made to the Aged Care Rules' definition of 'allied health professionals' in line with our strong advocacy. The Rules are a set of official guidelines made under the Aged Care Act 2024. The Department of Health Disability and Ageing (the department) has released a summary of key changes to the new Aged Care Rules. This result reflects our strong advocacy over a sustained period, including through a submission and follow up meetings with the department. This change aims to broaden the definition of a health professional in the Aged Care Rules to include self-regulated professionals such as speech pathologists, in addition to registered practitioners.

  2. Aged care pricing and costing - SPA recognised as an expert source of advice moving forward

    SPA continues to seek direct engagement with the Independent Hospital and Aged Care Pricing Authority (IHACPA) on the development of their aged care pricing and costing advice. Reflecting our strong advocacy for SPA to be directly consulted, we are pleased that Kym Torresi, SPA Senior Advisor Aged Care, has been appointed to IHACPA's Aged Care Network. We look forward to further engagement with IHACPA.

For further information regarding SPA's position on IHACPA aged care pricing and costing, please refer to SPA's recent submissions;