🎓✨ 2025 Communication Sciences and Disorders Research Symposium ✨🎓 We’re excited to invite you to the 2025 Communication Sciences and Disorders Research Symposium, proudly sponsored by the ACT/NSW Branch of Speech Pathology Australia. 📅 Date: Tuesday 21 October 2025 🕐 Time: 1:00 – 6:00 pm (followed by networking & nibbles) 📍 Venue: Susan Wakil Health Building, University of Sydney This year’s program features a range of thought-provoking presentations and discussions—don’t miss the chance to connect with researchers, clinicians, and students across our field. 👉 Register here: https://lnkd.in/g-96SEHQ 📄 Program attached Please share with your networks—we can’t wait to see you there!

✨ Thriving Kids, Thriving Clinics ✨ Navigating the NDIS has never been easy for families or providers — and with the new Thriving Kids Program rolling out, the questions are coming thick and fast. That’s why it was so encouraging to hear Eat Speak Learn mentioned in the latest Grow Your Clinic Podcast (episode #314). Ben Lynch, Jack and Hannah Dunn did a brilliant job unpacking the challenges families and clinics are facing right now. At Eat Speak Learn, we’ve been leaning into these changes by: 🌱 Building clarity for families with a structured intake process. 🌱 Offering coordinated care pathways led by practitioners who know the value of teamwork. 🌱 Prioritising evidence-based practice and outcome measures to show real progress. 🌱 Balancing NDIS with private and Medicare clients so families have choice and stability. The heart of it? Staying centred on children and families, while making sure our clinic remains financially fit and ready to adapt. If you’re working with kids or supporting families through the NDIS, I’d highly recommend giving this episode a listen. 🎧

🚦 Navigators: The Future of Support in the NDIS? The NDIS Review has recommended phasing out Support Coordination and replacing it with a new Navigator model. In theory, Navigators offer universal access, independence from plan budgets and stronger links to mainstream services. But the big question is: who will deliver them and where from? … 🔧 What This Means for Allied Health Providers Referral pathways are shifting: At present, many allied health referrals come via Support Coordinators. In a Navigator model, referral power may sit with corporate or insurer-run hubs. That raises the risk participants will be steered to preferred networks instead of having genuine choice. Scale vs community: Larger, multi-disciplinary providers may be favoured as “one-stop shops.” But this shift threatens smaller practices that carry deep community trust and cultural ties. If commissioning rewards efficiency over diversity, participant choice will shrink. Strategic adaptation: Smaller providers may need to form alliances or networks to avoid exclusion. Larger organisations must balance efficiency with authentic, person-centred care….
 
The Navigator model is meant to empower participants. But if delivered poorly, it risks eroding independence, silencing community voices and narrowing provider choice. We need a system that protects diversity, fairness and cultural connection. A system that prioritises the people it is meant to serve. #NDIS #NDISReform #Navigators #SupportCoordination #AlliedHealth #DisabilitySupport