President Piece – 12 March 2019

Hi Members,

I can hardly believe it is already March. Summer has come and gone, and autumn has arrived. Although you wouldn’t think so with all the warm days we are still having in Sydney. The board have been hard at work already (but don’t worry I did give them a break over the holidays!) to make this a great year for the DRTA. There is lots happening so stay tuned for all the updates!

After our AGM last September, some members approached the board about stepping in and filling the vacant board positions. After a unanimous vote by the board, we welcome the following members to the board. Kayla Davies – Vic State Representative, Janine Warne – NSW State Representative and Leah Sullivan – Qld State Representative. All 3 bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the board and we look forward to working with them in the coming year.

The Workshop on the Waves cruise has sailed around the Pacific and returned. We have some wonderful reports in the newsletter written by some attendee of the cruise on all the fun they had. The photos look amazing and it sounds like everyone had a great time learning and relaxing. Our workshops also kicked off last month, with the first for 2019 being held at beautiful Byron Bay. The ‘Access to Leisure’ workshop is the only workshop aimed for those working in the fields of rehabilitation, disability and mental health. The workshop was informative with lots of guest speakers including Byron Bay locals Asphyxia, speaking on the deaf community and a visit from Spaghetti Circus and a demonstration of a circus act. This workshop traditionally kick starts our education calendar. Visit the events page on the DRTA website for more information on upcoming workshops. Please contact our education co-ordinator Steph Bejma if you are interested in holding a workshop at your facility or network group, or if you are interested in presenting at any future workshops.

This year is going to be big with the Royal Commission into Aged Care getting underway. Kim Bromley (VP2) and Kayla Davis (Vic State Rep) have stepped up into the role of DRTA representatives for the National Aged Care Alliance and Gateway Committee. Thank you to Kim and Kayla for taking on this job. We will be feeding all the information the DRTA receives from NACA and the Royal Commission back to you, the members. Kayla attended the NACA meeting in Adelaide last month, look for her report in the newsletter.

Last month I attended the International TR Coalition meeting via a web meeting. This coalition is made up of DT/TR leaders around the globe with the aim of furthering DT/TR internationally. The countries represented include USA, Canada, Japan, South Africa, New Zealand and of course Australia; and are from professional bodies and education providers. The coalition meets via a web meeting 4 times a year to provide updates on what has been happening and where their focus will be moving forward. The coalition aims to have transparency with all its association members. In the coming months I will provide updates on the happenings of the International TR Coalition.

And 1 last thing before I leave you, Call for Papers is now out. This year’s conference will be held at Novtoel Surfers Paradise on the beautiful Gold Coast, Qld. This year’s theme for DRT week and conference is ‘Thriving on Change’, focusing on the changes that are happening, embracing them and moving forward. We want to hear about all the innovative ideas and programs so please consider submitting an abstract and sharing your wonderful knowledge with us.

Till next month,
Kylie Rice
President

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