Australian government inquiry into the social and economic impact of communication and swallowing disorders

Yesterday, the Australian government announced that the Senate Community Affairs References Committee will conduct an inquiry into the social and economic impact of communication and swallowing disorders.The Senate will consider the following questions

1. the prevalence of different types of speech, language and communication disorders and swallowing difficulties in Australia;
2. the incidence of these disorders by demographic group (paediatric, Aboriginal and Torres Islander people, people with disabilities and people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities);
3. the availability and adequacy of speech pathology services provided by the Commonwealth, state and local governments across health, aged care, education, disability and correctional services;
4. the provision and adequacy of private speech pathology services in Australia;
5. evidence of the social and economic cost of failing to treat communication and swallowing disorders; and
6. the projected demand for speech pathology services in Australia.

Read the official Handsard transcript here.

Speech Pathology Australia has been lobbying for this to occur over the past 3 years. This is an enormous step towards national recognition of the needs of Australians with communication and swallowing disorders.