President’s Report

Professor Carol McKinstry | OTA President

The last few months have been really exciting times for OTA. Our National Conference in Cairns was the best I have ever attended – and I have attended a lot of national conferences! Congratulations to the Scientific Committee for a truly wonderful program that really hit the mark regarding relevant topics and research for the Australian occupational therapy profession in the current context. It was inspiring to hear about the high quality and impactful research being conducted by occupational therapists. This research will not only inform the practice of clinicians but also enable OTA to lobby for and promote our profession using evidence to strengthen our case.

For me, a highlight of the conference was the lived experience panel. I have been on past scientific committees where we have strived to increase input from consumers but struggled to meet our aspirations. Our wonderful MC Caleb Rixon pulled the consumer panel together in a very meaningful way and highlighted how working in partnerships with consumers to truly co-design services can be effective. The climate change panel was also a highlight, with the lived experience of the impact of climate change conveyed very powerfully. Hearing from Professor Faye McMillian AM about navigating our way to reconciliation and understanding sovereign relations with First Nations peoples was very pertinent to OTA’s Reconciliation Action Plan work. Congratulations also to Professor Leeanne Carey for her Sylvia Docker Lecture: Ignite Your Passion, and Connect, to Make a Difference, highlighting the need to collaborate in research to support ongoing development of researchers.

I wish to thank everyone who presented papers and posters, conducted workshops and chaired sessions, our exhibitors and of course the Conference Scientific Committee Chair Dr Priscilla Ennals, and Conference Convenor Professor Ted Brown, and all the members of these committees. Thanks is also extended to the OTA staff who enabled such a smoothly coordinated conference.

The National Conference is a time when we recognise those achieving research excellence. This year we inducted four Research Fellows to the Occupational Therapy Research Academy. Congratulations to Professor Rachael McDonald, A/Professor Jacki Liddle, Professor Stacey George and Professor Kate Laver. We also awarded the various OTA Research Awards to Dr Jessica Hill, Dr Kitty Foley, Carolyn Dunn and Professor Lynette Mackenzie. Congratulations and we wish you well in your research endeavours. You can read more about the work of these new Fellows and award winners on page 28.

The conference gave OTA Board Directors and staff an opportunity to talk to many OTA members. Providing information on our current Workforce Development Project, the newly launched Supervision Program, our CPD events and many other member benefits was an important part of the conference. Hearing about our members’ pressing issues is essential to stay up to date with what is happening across Australia. We continue to advocate on behalf of occupational therapists, particularly in the mental health and NDIS sectors, to highlight the essential, high quality occupational therapy services that make a difference to NDIS recipients’ lives.

With the National Conference giving us an opportunity to come together face-to-face in greater numbers than in recent years, it emphasised the need to keep growing as clinicians, researchers, managers and leaders. Engaging in continuing professional development provides us with opportunities to meet others working in similar practice areas or experiencing common challenges. I would encourage you to consider engaging with a relevant OTA Special Interest Group, attend a Hot Topic event or one of the many CPD events on offer. The next big OTA event is the OT Exchange, which will be held in Perth on 13-14 June 2024, so start planning to attend.

In closing, I am really appreciative of the many members who conveyed their support for the work OTA is doing. I would encourage you all to vote in the upcoming OTA Board elections to have your say in the composition of the next Board and thank those who have taken the time to nominate.

“The times they are a-changin’” wrote Bob Dylan in 1964. We now have Google and Spotify for those who don’t know this anthem of the 60s, a time where social attitudes and societal beliefs were championed, challenged and changed. It does seem that change happens at a greater pace in our contemporary world, and sometimes things change so slowly that progress seems imperceptible. This edition of Connections falls at a time where there is significant change upon us as a society, and critical issues are faced by our profession, and our communities.

Now more than ever before, OTA demonstrates that we have a strong commitment to a better society through reconciliation with and recognition of our First Nations people, particularly right now as we are on the precipice of the ability to recognise the occupational injustices of past constructs that lock First Nations people out of important conversations that directly impact their lives, their agency and deny sovereignty and their voice on matters of importance to them.

The Voice to Parliament Referendum will ask a question of each Australian, which will forever shape the future of our nation, of how we see ourselves and how others see us. As a contemporary association, representative of the profession of occupational therapy, we believe we must stand for our organisational and professional values and a take position on issues that