As an SLT can I just say that using numbers from the Association is a bit flawed - we are not a registered profession where we legally have to be members of the NZSTA (eg Physios, OTs, Social Workers have to be registered members of their discipline etc), and a lot of work places don’t pay the fee for us, so a lot of people aren’t members. MoE themselves have only just recently started paying again across the motu for staff to be a member.
Now that’s out of the way, totally gutting to potentially lose this programme 😰 the amount of people training then leaving NZ is gutting. I know 3 friends who are experienced SLTs (practicing over a decade like myself) who have all left NZ in the last six months for Australia - so stoked for them getting what they’re worth (finally!), but pretty heart wrenching to then look at NZ salary scales and conditions.
Thanks for your feedback - can you point me in the direction of any stats to reflect the bigger picture? Anything to help! My background is as a parent, so I'm not aware of the trends or movements within your profession. Ngā mihi! :)
I doubt there ARE any legit numbers. That’s half the problem...We have the association (who do some awesome work, but also) who can’t really speak for all of us as not everyone is a member. And I get it - the members fees are a decent chunk of change to have to come up with yourself if you’re working in private practice or your employer doesn’t pay, or only pays a “contribution” towards it. Makes it harder for us to organise together if we can’t all get around the same table!
I don’t know how many students are enrolled in the distance learning course, but I know we need all of them, and then some!! I’d be interested to see figures (more magical numbers that don’t exist lol) on who is practicing by age range - those who leave the profession due to parental reasons or retirement, or even just leaving the profession in general, roughly how many per year, and what can we do to create enough graduates to fill those positions...mentally reviewing who was in my graduate group, less than half of us are still working as SLTs. And I graduated 13 years ago, so somewhat within living memory 🤣
Thank you for sharing about this issue - I’ve followed your mahi for a few years now and you are an amazing advocate and agitator for change in this sector that desperately needs it!
In the 1990s there were hardly any SLTs trained and they were very scarce by 1999 when Helen Clark's government won the election. The new government made it a priority to increase SLT training places and improve their pay and status and within a few years dozens more had qualified. There was a point in about 2008 when all the vacancies were filled. But then the focus came off, many went overseas or to other careers and now we are back to where we were two decades ago. The lesson is that all that there needs to be a strong ongoing focus on training and increasing the workforce, pay and status of all the professionals that our children need.
As an SLT can I just say that using numbers from the Association is a bit flawed - we are not a registered profession where we legally have to be members of the NZSTA (eg Physios, OTs, Social Workers have to be registered members of their discipline etc), and a lot of work places don’t pay the fee for us, so a lot of people aren’t members. MoE themselves have only just recently started paying again across the motu for staff to be a member.
Now that’s out of the way, totally gutting to potentially lose this programme 😰 the amount of people training then leaving NZ is gutting. I know 3 friends who are experienced SLTs (practicing over a decade like myself) who have all left NZ in the last six months for Australia - so stoked for them getting what they’re worth (finally!), but pretty heart wrenching to then look at NZ salary scales and conditions.
Thanks for your feedback - can you point me in the direction of any stats to reflect the bigger picture? Anything to help! My background is as a parent, so I'm not aware of the trends or movements within your profession. Ngā mihi! :)
I doubt there ARE any legit numbers. That’s half the problem...We have the association (who do some awesome work, but also) who can’t really speak for all of us as not everyone is a member. And I get it - the members fees are a decent chunk of change to have to come up with yourself if you’re working in private practice or your employer doesn’t pay, or only pays a “contribution” towards it. Makes it harder for us to organise together if we can’t all get around the same table!
I don’t know how many students are enrolled in the distance learning course, but I know we need all of them, and then some!! I’d be interested to see figures (more magical numbers that don’t exist lol) on who is practicing by age range - those who leave the profession due to parental reasons or retirement, or even just leaving the profession in general, roughly how many per year, and what can we do to create enough graduates to fill those positions...mentally reviewing who was in my graduate group, less than half of us are still working as SLTs. And I graduated 13 years ago, so somewhat within living memory 🤣
Thank you for sharing about this issue - I’ve followed your mahi for a few years now and you are an amazing advocate and agitator for change in this sector that desperately needs it!
In the 1990s there were hardly any SLTs trained and they were very scarce by 1999 when Helen Clark's government won the election. The new government made it a priority to increase SLT training places and improve their pay and status and within a few years dozens more had qualified. There was a point in about 2008 when all the vacancies were filled. But then the focus came off, many went overseas or to other careers and now we are back to where we were two decades ago. The lesson is that all that there needs to be a strong ongoing focus on training and increasing the workforce, pay and status of all the professionals that our children need.
Great article. I can’t believe this is happening, just as the programme is working to become more accessible and equitable.