Australian private practice owners must keep lifting our standards to better support early career speech pathologists 

The big picture:

Even in these challenging times, private practice owners can do more to support early career speech pathologists. We should share and normalise good practices so that early career professionals are better supported, wherever they work. 

Why it matters:

Australia boasts many excellent private practices, of all shapes and sizes. However, across the wider profession:

• hiring, supervision, training, caseload, and workload practices remain inconsistent; 
• turnover and burnout rates for early career speech pathologists remain too high; and 
• we lose far too much talent, too early.

Zoom in:

Every early career speech pathologist is entitled to:

• a fair, negotiated and written contract; 
• a respectful and safe workplace;
• weekly supervision with an experienced speech pathologist;
• reasonable caseloads and workloads;
• manager-protected work-life boundaries;
• unfettered access to systems and resources to do the job properly;
• tailored training plans to develop clinical, professional, and business skills; and 
• opportunities to build relationships with colleagues and other professionals.

Friction points:

The profession should not tolerate:

• unprofessional contracts not designed for speech pathologists;
• unpaid internships and ‘volunteer opportunities’;
• sham contracting arrangements; and
• independent contracting arrangements that leave early career speech pathologists isolated, under-supervised, or under-trained. 

No excuses:

These expectations should apply regardless of whether: 

• the private practice is small, medium or large; 
• the private practice is owned by a speech pathologist, another allied health provider, or an investor; or
• the speech pathologist is employed full-time, part time, casually, or is hired as a contractor.

Good early signals:

Reputable private practices:

• start with fair, professional contracts designed specifically for the needs of speech pathologists; 
• welcome questions; and
• provide time and space for negotiations about draft contracts, taking into account high standards of practice and ethical practice. 

Tools to try:

Our Australian employment contract templates are designed to help practice owners communicate high standards of practice to early career speech pathologists in the context of Australian employment laws, and Speech Pathology Australia’s Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics. Click here for access.