CEO’s Report

Samantha Hunter | OTA CEO

shape our nation’s future and use the lens of occupational therapy to influence and shape the world in which we work, learn and play. We have a responsibility to both articulate and act on our values. In this edition of Connections, it gives me great pleasure to release Occupational Therapy Australia’s Board-endorsed support of voting yes in the forthcoming referendum. A full article can be found on page 18.

I would like to ask every occupational therapist to take some time to reflect on both your professional commitment to reconciliation and greater understanding of sovereign relations, and your role and place, both now and into the future on how we do or can affect the systems that could create greater equity, and how these relate to us as a profession calling out and confronting where occupational injustices are taking place.

Important decisions are before us and this is the intersect of the personal, the professional and the political. It is not the association’s place to dictate personal views; however, we ask you to reflect on this through the lens of occupational justice and through the lens of actions that speak for and strengthen democracy, access and equity. Values that support and strengthen the very tenets of occupation.

In this edition of Connections, we are also pleased to unveil our Reconciliation Action Plan artwork as we successfully conclude our Reflect RAP and embark on the next phase of our Journey of Understanding. More details on page 19

Whilst the referendum results will change our nation, changes of a different nature are also at hand for many of our members. After a decade of operating, the National Disability Insurance Scheme is under review. Undoubtedly the NDIS has created untold benefits for participants and created both opportunities and challenges for the profession. We have been both relentless and rigorous in the various submissions, reports and advocacy efforts. Every occupational therapist I speak with wants to see a sustainable, fair and equitable scheme with our profession appropriately acknowledged, respected and remunerated. To achieve this goal, our team is committed to providing evidence-based submissions where appropriate but also to ongoing advocacy within the agency hierarchy at multiple levels. Once the review is received and the impact and implementations are understood, OTA will invite members to join us to unpack and understand how the review’s findings will shape the scheme and determine a future path.

As change is happening around us, and we live in an increasingly complex and busy world, we often forget to slow down, relish the positive, reflect on our successes and celebrate ourselves and our profession. OT Week this year celebrates Unity through Community. I invite and encourage every one of our members to celebrate their community and the unity you bring to it. Whether it be colleagues, consumers, carers or our industry partners – our unity is our strength.