with STEM™ CAREERS JOB KIT Speech pathologist
Work with people of all ages to support the development, rehabilitation and maintenance of effective communication and swallowing skills
Study speech pathology
Are you fascinated by the power of communication and eager to help others find their voice? Speech pathology could be your perfect calling.
Speech pathologists play a vital role in diagnosing communication and swallowing difficulties across all age groups and supporting individuals, families and communities with communication and swallowing needs. As a speech pathology student, you’ll delve into the science of speech, language, voice, hearing and swallowing. You’ll learn how to assess and provide intervention for a wide range of conditions. Your work may help children develop intelligible speech and build skills in using and understanding language or assist adults recovering from strokes or managing degenerative diseases to communicate and swallow effectively. You have the potential to profoundly impact individuals’ lives.
Career opportunities are diverse and rewarding. You could work in hospitals, early intervention, schools, private practices, rehabilitation centres or community health organisations. There’s also the potential to specialise in a wide range of areas such as literacy, alternative and augmentative communication, dementia, head and neck cancer and to engage in future research and academic employment. The demand for speech pathologists is growing, ensuring a stable and fulfilling career with opportunities for advancement and specialisation. By choosing speech pathology, you’re not just embarking on a career; you’re joining a community dedicated to improving communication and quality of life for others. Your expertise will empower individuals to express themselves, connect with others, and lead more fulfilling lives.
Contribute to the common good
Speech pathology wasn’t always on my radar. I come from a family of teachers and thought I’d probably become one too. I wanted to support people’s learning. Then at school, one of my teachers suggested speech pathology as a career. It combined the service and teaching elements I was interested in, so I explored it during Year 10 work experience.
I really enjoyed it and have been fortunate enough to end up in an academic role that allows me to teach speech pathology. For me, it’s the best of both worlds.
As a speech pathologist, you’re tasked with supporting people to communicate effectively so they can share their ideas, express their opinions, communicate with friends and participate in all sorts of life activities. This may be through speech, sign or technological devices. You also assist with swallowing and feeding, which are really important to our daily lives. Just think about the role that mealtimes play, including the social and nutritional aspects, as well as the enjoyment that food brings! So the profession is one that is practical and really meaningful.
One of the reasons I find speech pathology so interesting is that it combines sciences and the humanities. ACU’s Bachelor of Speech Pathology requires an understanding of psychology,
anatomy, physiology and neuroscience, and also draws on linguistics and phonetics, culture, ethics and community. It’s a good choice for people who enjoy science, but who want to apply it in a way that feels very person-centred and meaningful.
With the Bachelor of Speech Pathology, you can deliver real functional outcomes for individuals, families, and communities.
We’ve also redesigned the delivery mode to increase access from rural and regional areas. We want students to be able to study speech pathology without needing to leave their home community.
If you’re thinking about becoming a speech pathologist, consider the talents, and interests that you have – if you love science and the arts, this could be the perfect job for you!
Associate Professor Jane McCormack Head of Discipline, Speech Pathology, ACU
Communication is key
Set yourself up for success in a rewarding, in-demand career!
Aspeech pathologist is an allied health professional who works to assess, diagnose and support people with communication difficulties like speaking, listening and understanding language as well as swallowing difficulties. and speech exercises, as well as communication aids and devices. Speech pathology is a super important career where you can make a real difference. If you’re keen to improve people’s quality of life in your 9-to-5, this is a study and career path to seriously consider. Explore opportunities in speech pathology, and what you need to study to get there, below!
to-do list
On the job, you could be tasked with…
Talking with people and administering assessments that will help identify their communication or swallowing needs
Identifying intervention goals with individuals and families
Developing intervention plans for individuals and families based on their needs
Working with individuals in intervention sessions to practise communication or swallowing skills and tracking progress towards their goals
Working with other health professionals to make sure people are receiving holistic care
Educating families and the wider community about communication and swallowing needs
Pay day
According to SEEK, the average annual salary for a speech pathologist ranges from $85,000 to $100,000.
Speechie shortage
Jobs and Skills Australia reports a shortage of speech pathologists across all states and territories. Speech Pathology Australia says, “Availability of speech pathology services is not meeting the level of need and demand in Australia... not all people who need speech pathology services can access them.” So there’s no better time to jump on this study and career path – you’ll be in high demand when you graduate!
See the world while you study
Did you know that at ACU you can link your theoretical units with local and global community engagement experiences? With the Bachelor of Speech Pathology, you can jump on a Short-term International Study Experience in countries like Vietnam and India, or study at ACU’s Rome campus
Who you’ll work with
Young children
Support development of their communication skills, verbally or non-verbally.
School students
Work with educators to promote language, literacy and social communication.
Where you’ll work
• Hospitals
• Aged care
• Schools
• Community health centres
• Rehabilitation centres
• Mental health services
• Justice system
• Private practices
• Academia and research
Get there
Adults
Help people whose capacity for communication and swallowing has been impacted.
The elderly
Work with those experiencing progressive neurological conditions, to ensure they can communicate effectively and swallow safely.
To become a speech pathologist, you’ll need to undertake a speech pathology qualification accredited by Speech Pathology Australia, like ACU’s Bachelor of Speech Pathology
ACU’s speech pathology program will give you the skills you need to assess and diagnose needs, as well as provide intervention and support that is person-centred, culturally sensitive and evidence based. The degree can be studied in Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra. At ACU’s Canberra campus, the program is offered with a flexible mode of delivery, where students from rural and regional areas don’t need to relocate to study.
Scan here to learn more about the Bachelor of Speech Pathology and its course details, entry requirements and pathways
Get experiencehands-on
ACU speech pathology students undertake experiencescommunity-based in first year, and work placements every year after, including a simulation experience. Here, students engage in highly realistic interactions with high-tech manikins and actors to develop and practise interpersonal and decision-making skills. Other placements occur across a range of settings, like schools, hospitals, early intervention services and/or private practices. Students work with people across the lifespan, under the supervision of qualified speech pathologists. Students are spoiled for choice as ACU has over 500 speech pathology placement partners! These include:
• Austin Health
• Barwon Health
• Cabrini
• Epworth
• Healthscope
• Knox Private Hospital
• Mercy Health
• Metro North Health –Queensland Government
• NSW Health
• Ramsay Health
• St Vincent’s Hospital
• Therapy Alliance Group
• The Royal Melbourne Hospital
• The Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network
• UnitingCare
• Western Health
Student speechie
Maddy has always loved helping and working with people, so a career path in allied health made sense. She looked at lots of options, like occupational therapy and physiotherapy, but speech pathology was what ultimately piqued her interest. She’s now in her fourth year of ACU’s Bachelor of Speech Pathology.
In her first year at ACU, Maddy was selected by Health Workforce Queensland to be part of the GROW Rural program, which gives people studying allied health and medical disciplines the chance to connect with the community. She took annual trips in rural areas around Queensland for the first three years of her degree.
Maddy loved the experience of working rurally and meeting people from different communities.
“I felt pretty lucky to get selected for that.”
Now she’s undertaking a placement with ACU’s own health clinic, which provides student- delivered healthcare, supported by university supervisors.
i’m just loving the adult space, and I could definitely see myself working in it”
Maddy is currently working in community rehab with adults and focusing on neurological disorders like Parkinson’s disease.
She loves studying at ACU because it’s a tight-knit university. “I’ve made so many friends in my course and the tutors all know you by name.”
Looking ahead, Maddy is excited to jump into the workforce. She loves working with adults and is also looking forward to a paediatric placement next semester.
Maddy wants to work with big organisations such as Queensland Health or the Queensland Department of Education someday.
As a new grad speech pathologist, she’ll be in high demand and will have so many opportunities and paths to explore!
ACU speech pathologist student, Maddy Harris, is already reaping the benefits of this hands-on degree!
maddy harris speech pathology student
A day in the life of... A RURAL SPEECH PATHOLOGIST
From Brisbane to the Kimberley, Chloe Schlatter’s ACU placements shaped her path to rural allied health
After studying teaching for 12 months, Chloe Schlatter realised it wasn’t the right pathway for her. She chatted with her lecturers and came across speech pathology. “It wasn’t something I always knew I wanted to do,” she says. “But I’m glad I found it because I absolutely love being a speechie.”
chloe schlatter speech Pathologist
After graduating with a Bachelor of Speech Pathology (Honours) at ACU in Brisbane, Chloe now works as a speech pathologist with Western Australia Country Health Service in the Kimberley.
“I work as a rural generalist, we cover birth to death, so the whole lifespan,” she explains. “My day looks different every single day as we do a lot of remote travel out to different communities.”
Chloe’s ACU placements, spanning both metropolitan and rural Queensland, proved invaluable in securing her graduate position and prepared her for the challenges and rewards of working in rural Western Australia.
“There seems to be a lot more connection and it is very family centred,” she says
i found I really loved living and working rurally.”
A typical day at a community visit
7.00am
A team of specialists including myself, an occupational therapist, a physiotherapist and an Indigenous therapy assistant (ITA) meet and start travelling via car from Derby out to community.
8.30am
I start my day at the school, popping in and out of different classrooms to observe children, chat to teachers and maybe conduct some one-to-one sessions with students.
11am
Head to the clinic in the community, set-up for the afternoon and get some lunch.
12pm
Spend the rest of the afternoon doing home visits. We’ll try to find people we might be having difficulties contacting or do a general check in and see how they’re going. We might bring some people into the clinic if we need a bit more time to provide them with our services.
4pm
We end the day by heading back to the car to go back to Derby.
Get the job!
Start laying the groundwork for your speech pathology career right here, right now
Electives checklist
Finalising high school subjects? These electives will set you on the right path for a career in speech pathology.
Watch
Parker’s Story (Vimeo)
Meet Parker, a young man with Developmental Language Disorder. He has always wanted to sky-dive, but will his communication difficulties get in his way? Find out in this video!
Tristan’s voice (YouTube)
Eight-year-old Tristan is working with his speech pathologist Elizabeth to communicate all the ideas he wants to share with the world.
Choose this career if you…
✔ Want to help others for a living ✔ Would like to work in a range of settings
✔ Are keen to specialise in an area of interest, like paediatric speech or feeding and swallowing
✔ English ✔ Biology
✔ Chemistry
✔ Physics
Listen
Speak Up: A Speech Pathology
Australia Podcast
Listen to convos with those working in the speech pathology space. This podcast covers everything from self-care for health workers to the role of speech pathology in palliative care. It gets bonus points for having episodes that are short and easy to listen to!
✔ Love meeting people of all ages and from all walks of life
Celebrate
Speech Pathology Week
This takes place every year in August and is all about celebrating the range of ways people communicate and the amazing work speech pathologists do. Head to the Speech Pathology Australia website for fun digital assets and hashtags you can use to help spread the word: bit.ly/speechpathologyweek
Fill your feed
@speechpathaus
The national peak body for the speech pathology profession in Australia. @adventuresinspeechpathology
Rebecca is an Australian speech pathologist who helps others in the industry feel more confident treating speech sound disorders. She also makes great speech therapy materials!
That’s So Jayah
Speech pathologist Jayah shares day-in-the-life videos of what it’s like to work in speech pathology and how it helps people.