June 11, 2018

Speech Pathology Australia's support for communication as a human right

Gaenor Dixon (President, SPA), Gail Mulcair (CEO, SPA), Prof Kirrie Ballard (Editor, IJSLP), Prof Sharynne McLeod (Guest Editor, IJSLP). Photo credit: Louise Hutchinson
At the Speech Pathology Australia (SPA) National Conference we celebrated the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, focusing on communication as a human right. The photograph of the audience showing their support for communication rights is below. I was the editor of the special issue of the International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology (volume 20, issue 1) that contains 31 open access papers discussing communication as a human right is available here. The foreword is written by Alastair McEwan (Australian Disability Discrimination Commissioner) and Ed Santow (Australian Human Rights Commissioner) and is titled "The importance of the human right to communication".
Speech Pathology Australia delegates celebrating 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and communication as a human right (Article 19). Photo credit: Louise Hutchinson

Authors and editors of the special issue of IJSLP celebrating communication as a human right L-R: A/Prof Jane McCormack, Prof Sharynne McLeod (Guest Editor, IJSLP), Gail Mulcair (CEO, SPA), Hayley Tancredi, Prof Kirrie Ballard (Editor, IJSLP), Prof Bronwyn Hemsley, Prof Lindy McAllister, A/Prof Deborah Hersh, Dr Bea Staley. Photo credit: Louise Hutchinson
Natalie Davall (Taylor & Francis), A/Prof Anne Whitworth (Editor, IJSLP), Prof Kirrie Ballard (Editor, IJSLP), Prof Sharynne McLeod (Guest Editor, IJSLP), A/Prof Deborah Hersh (author), Hayley Tancredi (author). Photo credit: Louise Hutchinson