October 8, 2025
Finance advice
CSU representatives on the World Health Organization Disability Health Equity Network
CVC launch in the Western Advocate
The news story was syndicated across the Australian Community Media network in the wider NSW Central West, including The Oberon Review: (Oberon), The Central Western Daily (Orange), The Lithgow Mercury (Lithgow), and The Daily Liberal (Dubbo). One interview, five newspaper stories!
CSU - Cultural And Linguistic Diversity Champions And Be An Ally For Cultural Inclusion
From What's New and News today
Subject: Meet The New Cultural And Linguistic Diversity Champions And Be An Ally For Cultural Inclusion
Message:
The Cultural and Linguistic Diversity (CALD) Network has new Champions and a refreshed vision for inclusion and you are warmly invited to be part of it. Come along on Tuesday 21 October at 2pm and meet our new Champions Koshila Kumar, Jelena Bogdanovic and Salma Arabi and help build a vision for this important employee network.
In 2025:
- 13% of Charles Sturt staff speak a language other than English at home
- 10% of Charles Sturt staff come from an ethnic minority background
- More than 56 languages other than English are spoken at home by Charles Sturt staff
Networks aim to:
- unite people who share lived experience of inequity, and those who support them
- create a forum to raise issues of importance for gender equity
- allow members to draw on personal experience of gender inequity to provide feedback and guide decisions around University priorities and initiatives
- provide a safe place for employees to connect and create dialogue around diversity, workplace inclusion and belonging
Come along and share your experiences, show your allyship and help to create a truly inclusive culture in our workplace.
Find the calendar invitation here:https://www.csu.edu.au/division/people-culture/current-staff/respect-equity-and-diversity/diverse-faiths-cultures
For more information contact edi@csu.edu.au
We look forward to seeing you there.
Success stories
October 7, 2025
CVC: Widening children's participation in research scoping review project
Today Dr Carolyn Gregoric led a meeting with our CVC affiliates titled "Widening children's participation in research scoping review project". Claudio Dionigi provided advice on scoping reviews and Covidence.
Just published - Children’s drawings of intervention for childhood apraxia of speech
How exciting - this paper has just been published.
McCormack, J., Cronin, A., McLeod, S., Ireland, M., Wang, C., & Tiong, C. (2025). Children’s drawings of intervention for childhood apraxia of speech: Place, people, activity, and emotion. Child Language Teaching and Therapy. https://doi.org/10.1177/02656590251375340
Exiting for two reasons - summarises our Once Upon a Time research grant + first paper to be accepted for our Child Language Teaching and Therapy special issue!
Here are the drawings that have been included as figures in our paper. These depict the participants' insights into undertaking DTTC intervention.
Data analysis about speech-language pathologists in US schools
This morning I met with Marie Ireland and LaVae to discuss the data analysis for our nine tensions paper. 1011 responses submitted, 885 responses completed (and not duplicated) after data cleaning by Kate Crowe. Now the fun begins as we find out what they said. Marie has submitted an abstract for a conference in 2026 in Australia - hope it is accepted - so she can come and present this work.
 |
| Marie, Sharynne and LaVae |
October 3, 2025
BIG TASK - Copyediting the Oxford Handbook
All of the copyedited chapter files (80 chapters) and figure files arrived this week! There is a lot of work to be done to finalise these in the next two weeks. Thank you Helen Blake for your assistance - we make a great team!
Book pitch - Vaccination is under threat: Communication is the solution
I am mentoring Dr Ros Cox in the writing and publication of her book "Vaccination is under threat: Communication is the solution". She pitches the book with the publishers today. Best wishes Ros! Can't wait to work with you on this.
Charles Sturt University is a member of the WHO Disability Health Equity Network
Today we received the welcome news that we have been accepted as a member of the WHO Disability Health Equity Network.
We are pleased to welcome Charles Sturt University as a member of the WHO Disability Health Equity Network. Please find attached the Disability Health Equity Network membership certificate for your entity, and a copy of the Terms of reference for the Network.
CSU's application was focused on the work of the Children's Voices Centre. We are proud to work with WHO to change the lives of children and others with disabilities and the workforce, families and communities who support them.
We have added this partnership to our CVC website: https://www.csu.edu.au/research/childrens-voices-centre/engage-with-us
Terms of Reference
The WHO Disability Health Equity Network (hereinafter referred to as the Network)
envisions health equity for all persons with disabilities in support of the implementation of the WHA74.8 Resolution on the Highest attainable standard of health for persons with disabilities and advance WHO’s work on closing the avoidable health gaps between persons with disabilities and the broader population. The Network aims to advance the GPW14 Strategic Objective 4: Improve health service coverage and financial protection to address inequity and gender inequalities; more specifically:
• 4.1. Equity in access to quality services improved for noncommunicable diseases, mental health conditions and communicable diseases, while addressing antimicrobial resistance; and
• 4.2. Equity in access to sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, adolescent,
and older person health and nutrition services and immunization coverage improved. It also advances the goal of leaving no one behind.
 |
| Cheers from our team: Sharynne, Suzanne, Holly |
October 2, 2025
Discussion of research outcomes with OAMS
Today Sarah Bartlett and I visited the Orange Aboriginal Medical Service (OAMS) to discuss the outcomes of the research we have undertaken with them since March 2023 (officially from 2024-June 2025). We are writing four journal articles with the team. What a warm and encouraging discussion about the findings. Jamie Newman, the CEO said "we will speak for you and you can speak for us". Thank you Jamie and congratulations on the wonderful care you and your team show for the families in our region.
We were delighted to see that the Little Libraries were messy - and that the reception staff said they were used all the time :)
Children's Voices Centre newsletter
Our Children's Voices Centre Newsletter - Edition 1 - was released during our launch on 1st October 2025. It contains 28 pages of wonderful work of the whole CVC family.
 |
| CEO Jamie Newman, Orange Aboriginal Medical Service reading about our collaborations on pages 4 and 21 |
Launch of the Children's Voices Centre
Yesterday (1st October 2025) we launched the Children's Voices Centre (CVC). What a landmark moment in my life. Thank you to Associate Professors Tamara Cumming and Kathy Cologon, Dr Carolyn Gregoric, Lorraine Bennett and CVC affiliates, and everyone who has helped us build the CVC.
Here is the LinkedIn post from our Deputy Vice Chancellor - Research, Professor Neena Mitter, who opened the Centre:
Yesterday’s launch of the Children’s Voices Centre in Bathurst was one of those rare moments that stays with you.
To see children, families, researchers, and the community gathered together to celebrate the power of children’s voices was deeply moving. It reminded me how research is not just about data or outcomes — it is about people, connections, and creating spaces where every voice matters.
The Children’s Voices Centre is already making an extraordinary impact:Congratulations to Distinguished Professor Sharynne McLeod Associate Professors Tamara Cumming and Kathy Cologon, and Dr Carolyn Gregoric, Lorraine Bennett and affiliates on bringing this vision to life. As the children who spoke at the launch emphasised, the Children’s Voices Centre will be a beacon for children and families, amplifying voices that too often go unheard.
- Children from 18 countries have contributed to the Children Draw Health project, sharing their perspectives on wellbeing.
- Researchers have produced a landmark 1,000+ page Oxford Handbook with 173 authors across 49 languages, reshaping how the world understands multilingual children’s speech.
- Collaborations with the World Health Organization are ensuring children’s voices influence health equity on a global stage.
- Collaborations with families and professionals in 100+ languages and dialects.
I feel grateful to have witnessed this beginning and look forward to seeing the journey ahead.
Read more in the Children’s Voices Centre newsletter https://www.csu.edu.au/research/childrens-voices-centre/news-and-events #CharlesSturtResearch #ChildrensVoicesCentre #RegionalImpact #CommunicationRights
 |
| CVC staff: Tamara, Sharynne, Kathy, Carolyn (Lorraine) |
Here is the CSU media release before the launch:
Shaping a better world for children ─ innovative new research centre opens in Bathurst
Thank you to our amazing CVC staff who orchestrated the entire event: A/Prof Tamara Cumming, A/Prof Kathy Cologon, Dr Carolyn Gregoric and Lorraine Bennett (this accomplishment is even more remarkable because they are all part time – between them they only work 2.6FTE!).
Special moments at the launch included:
- Powerful speeches by Finbar (11), Zac (9) and Chloe (7) where they presented their vision for the world supported by Associate Professor Kathy Cologon
- The speech by Professor Neena Mitter, our Deputy Vice Chancellor Research where she described the achievements and aspirations of CVC
- Our special guests, the Australian Children’s Laureate Ms Sally Rippin, with her co-authors, Eliza Hull and Daniel Gray-Barnett who read their new book, The World We Can Build https://publishing.hardiegrant.com/en-au/books/the-world-we-can-build-by-sally-rippin/9781761213601
- Acknowledgment of Country from Professor Tony Dreise, Pro Vice Chancellor (First Nations)
- The arrival of our VIPs – children from Mitchell Early Learning Centre and Member for Calare, Andrew Gee
- Cutting the ribbon and unveiling the plaque by Finbar, Knox and DVCR Neena Mitter.
- Charlie the Cockatoo (Felix) welcoming guests with Lorraine Bennett and Carolyn Gregoric
Here are some more photos from the launch
 |
| Professor Tony Dreise, Pro Vice Chancellor (First Nations) |
 |
| Associate Director, A/Prof Tamara Cumming |
 |
| Director, Distinguished Professor Sharynne McLeod |
 |
| Charlie the Cockatoo (Felix) with Sharynne |
 |
| Charlie the Cockatoo (Felix) with Lorraine Benett, Sharynne McLeod and Dean of FOAE Andrew Hope |
 |
| Pat McKenna, Sharynne Prof McLeod, Prof Neena Mitter, Prof Andrew Hope |
 |
| Prof Tony Dreise, Prof Sharynne McLeod, Prof Neena Mitter, A/Prof Kathy Cologon |
 |
| Prof Tony Dreise, Sarah Bartlett, Dr Carolyn Gregoric, Prof Neena Mitter |
 |
| A/Prof Tamara Cumming |
 |
| Adam and Chloe preparing to present a speech |
 |
| A/Prof Kathy Cologon, Chloe, Zach and Finbar |
 |
| Finbar's speech |
 |
| Chloe's speech |
 |
| The attentive VIPs |
 |
| Some of the crowd |
 |
| Children playing at the back of The Treehouse during the launch |
 |
| A/Prof Tamara Cumming and Prof Neena Mitter |
 |
| CVC song being lead by Zach, David, Finbar, Brendon and Kathy |
 |
| Activities for children and adults after the launch |
September 29, 2025
Disability Equity in Research Expert Meeting: Invitation from the World Health Organization
I have been invited to participate in the Disability Equity in Research Expert Meeting - and attended tonight from 11pm - 1am. The invitation came from Kaloyan KAMENOV from the World Health Organization. Here is a summary from the briefing notes:
World Health Organization and Johns Hopkins Disability Health Research Center Guidance Checklists for Disability Equity in Research Persons with disabilities and disability health equity more broadly are often overlooked in research design, study implementation and scientific reporting, as well as in general science communication. This oversight limits the generalizability of research findings and their applicability to clinical practice.
The Disability Equity in Research guidance checklists are primarily designed to:
- support editors to integrate assessment of disability equity in all manuscripts as an integral part of the editorial process;
- guide authors in preparing their manuscripts and enhance disability equity in all stages of research -planning, recruitment, data collection, data analysis, and dissemination;
- facilitate disability equity inclusion in Institutional Review Boards/Ethic Boards procedures; and
- guide research funders to facilitate inclusion of persons with disabilities in research.
These checklists are informed by a scoping review of 120 documents conducted by the Johns Hopkins Disability Health Research Center and the Disability Programme at the World Health Organization.
I have experience in including people with disabilities as authors during my role as editor of International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. An example of the inclusion of the unaltered “voice” of a person with disability is found in the following article.
Murphy, D., Lyons, R., Carroll, C., Caulfield, M., & De Paor, G. (2018). Communication as a human right: Citizenship, politics and the role of the speech-language pathologist. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 20(1), 16–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2018.1404129
Declan Murphy is a 29-year-old with Down Syndrome. He was invited to co-author the following article. As editor, I facilitated the invitation, writing, and publication so that his words remained and were not copyedited/changed. This required many steps to ensure his “voice” was unaltered (including sending the final text to the journal with Declan’s words in a different colour – and notes to the copyeditors not to alter the text).
“ABSTRACT …The purpose of this paper is to elucidate communication as a human right in the life of a young man called Declan who has Down syndrome. This commentary paper is co-written by Declan, his sister who is a speech-language pathologist (SLP) with an advocacy role, his SLP, and academics. Declan discusses, in his own words, what makes communication hard, what helps communication, his experiences of speech-language pathology, and what he knows about human rights. He also discusses his passion for politics, his right to be an active citizen and participate in the political process…”The Appendix, on page 20 included the writing and editing contract:Appendix
Writing and editing contract with Declan
Declan was asked to write about his experiences under the following headings: what makes communication hard, what helps communication, his experiences of SLP, and what he knows about human rights. A writing and editing contract was drawn up in advance of writing the paper. The contract was, in Declan’s own words, was “these are Declan’s ideas and words; it is Gráinne’s role to support Declan to organise his writing and his ideas; it is ok for Gráinne to correct spellings; it is not ok for Gráinne to change sentences; it is ok for Gráinne to remind Declan of the topic and Declan will make the final decision about what is in this article.” (Murphy et al., 2018, p. 20)
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17549507.2018.1404129
Here is a little more from Declan - I was the person who recommended he be invited to open the IALP conference: “I was like a politician myself one time. I did the opening at the IALP [International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics] conference because the Minister for Health was busy. This was huge. My family came to see me. I think they were in shock about my speech and what I said. I have this memory now for all my life because I got a standing ovation. Rena said to me ‘‘how are you so confident up there Declan?’’ I told her and I particularly love this bit that I think about Barack Obama making a speech and then I am not nervous and I just want to do it. “(Murphy et al., 2018, p. 17-18) https://speakingmylanguages.blogspot.com/2016/08/30th-world-congress-of-international.htm
Editorial board meeting for Advances in Communication and Swallowing
Tonight (10-11pm) I attended the editorial board meeting for Advances in Communication and Swallowing (ACS). https://journals.sagepub.com/home/csw. The journal editors Dr. Ciarán Kenny and Dr. Julie Regan are based in Ireland and ACS is the official journal of the Irish Association of Speech and Language Therapists (IASLT). It is a Q2 journal with a cite score of 1.1. It is a young journal and there is a lot of good will amongst the editors and editorial board.
Application submitted to WHO Disability Health Equity Network
I just submitted an application to the WHO Disability Health Equity Network on behalf of Charles Sturt University and the Children's Voices Centre with the approval and assistance from DVCR Neena Mitter, PVCI Michael Friend, Jason White, Annette Harris (Research Office) and A/Prof Tamara Cumming.
Here is the invitation from WHO to submit the application:
The WHO Disability Programme is pleased to announce the launch of the first call for membership applications to join the WHO Disability Health Equity Network https://www.who.int/initiatives/disability-health-equity-initiative/network, a global Network of stakeholders working together to advance health equity for persons with disabilities.We have submitted to workstreams 1 and 4.
I’m reaching out to you as a valued academic partner with established research leadership in the field. As part of our efforts to build a strong WHO Disability Health Equity Network, I wanted to personally ensure you were aware of this opportunity to apply for membership.
Kindly note that you would be eligible to apply as a research centre, lab, or department (= Children’s Voices Centre).
We’ve created a dedicated WHO Disability Health Equity Network webpage which outlines key information, such as:
• Purpose and role of the Network
• Terms of Reference of the Network
• Member profiles, roles and benefits
• Eligibility criteria
• Workstreams
• Membership application process, guidance and online form.
- Build leadership on health equity among persons with disabilities
- Establish robust indicators, evidence and monitoring
CSU news item about the CVC launch
Join us in celebrating the official launch of the Charles Sturt University Children's Voices Centre - a pioneering hub for transformative interdisciplinary research with, for and about children.
10:30am Wednesday 1 October (Australian Eastern Standard time)
* at The Treehouse, Building 1451, Research Station Drive, Charles Sturt University Bathurst campus
* or online https://charlessturt.zoom.us/j/69606943832
To find out more, visit: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/childrens-voices-centre-launchtickets-1558210642979
CSU News story:
Shaping a better world for children ─ innovative new research centre opens in Bathurst
Dr Tamara Cumming was interviewed by 2MCE for their breakfast news broadcast.
Welcome to The Treehouse Dr Carolyn Gregoric
Dr Carolyn Gregoric, the Research Manager at the Children's Voices Centre typically works off campus. We are delighted to welcome her to The Treehouse for our CVC launch week. It was lovely to show her around our renovated building - and to see her wearing her CSU and bee-inspired outfit! Welcome Carolyn!
Partners’ Briefing ahead of the 76th Session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Western Pacific (RCM76)
Today Dr Helen Blake, Holly McAlister and I attended the Partners’ Briefing ahead of the 76th Session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Western Pacific (RCM76). This session provided an overview of the Regional Committee, its agenda items, practical arrangements, and the process for delivering statements to support engagement.
Partners’ Briefing details:
Speakers and topics: WHO Director of Programme Management, directors of technical divisions from WHO Western Pacific Regional Office will provide short introductions on key agenda items and side events.
External Relations and Partnerships team
World Health Organization
Regional Office for the Western Pacific
Manila, Philippines
