Dear [FirstName],

I have received lots of positive feedback about the new website, and I hope you are beginning to appreciate the new features on it – in particular the fact that you can now renew your membership online. Of course, change is never completely smooth, so I’d like to thank members and staff for changing over to the new site.

Membership renewal pack with instructions, tips & FAQs is in the mail

Over 650 members have renewed online in the past week! Members will receive a hardcopy Membership Renewal pack this week, complete with:

• Online & telephone renewal instructions
• Membership Fee Schedule
• Notes for Direct Debit payers (N.B. if you currently pay by direct debit and do not need to change fee or payment details, you DO NOT need to go through the renewal process – we will automatically renew your membership on 01 July)
• Notes for new graduates
• Notes for members who need to provide supporting documentation (only applicable to reduced fee, students and new graduates)
• Tips and FAQs to help you through the online renewal process

Members who renew before June 30 receive a discount. Renew online and pay by credit card or direct debit before June 30 and we’ll put you in the running for a prize.

Senate Committee on Rural and Remote Indigenous Communities

The AASW was invited to give evidence to the Senate Committee on rural and remote Indigenous Communities, and I presented the AASW submission on these issues. I invited members of the AASW Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) National Working Group to participate in the hearing but as we were only given a few days notice of the hearing they were unable to attend. The positions presented reflected the collaborative work between the AASW National Office, the NT branch and the ATSI national working group, and I thank all those who developed this position last year.

Among other things, I argued that the quarantining of pensions and benefits where recipients’ children are truant from school would harm children, and not achieve the desired outcomes of increasing school attendance. One of the Senators on the Committee recognised how “valuable it was to have the view of the profession” on record. I will send you a link to the transcript of the hearing in next month’s e-bulletin.

Review of the Better Access to Mental Health Services Program

The AASW has provided feedback to the Federal Department of Health and Ageing on the ‘Better access to mental health services’ program.

The Government, through its consultant, KPMG, is now seeking direct input from practitioners. I encourage members who provide primary mental health care to contribute to this review by contacting the consultants directly through the email listed in this PDF. You can read more about the KPMG review here.

Curriculum standards for cross-cultural social work – have your say

The AASW has asked Dr Lou Harms at the University of Melbourne to develop curriculum standards for cross-cultural social work. Dr Harms is asking members to contribute to the development of these curriculum standards, and I urge you to by complete this short questionnaire.

Lifescripts resources: Supporting Healthier Lifestyles in Allied Health

The AASW is participating in a Department of Health and Ageing consultation on the potential for ‘Lifescripts’ resources to be used by allied health professionals.

Lifescripts resources are a range of resources developed for general practitioners to assist them in addressing lifestyle risk factors for chronic disease with patients. A more detailed description of the Lifescripts resources can be found here.

The AASW has already provided advice to the consultants, and I encourage AASW members to have their say on the role allied health can play in supporting healthier lifestyles by completing a brief and confidential on-line survey. The deadline for survey completion is 10th July 2009. Click here to access the survey.

Call for papers

The following journals are calling for papers from AASW members. 

• Rural Mental Health (published in association with the AASW)
• Mental Health Nursing
• Mental Health and Illness, Practice and Service issues.

Please take a look at the background page on our website for more information on these and other publications and contact the journal editors directly using the web addresses in the flyer if you are interested.

Regards

Kandie
Kandie Allen-Kelly BSocWk MPhil MAASW (Acc)
Chief Executive Officer
Australian Association of Social Workers
P.O. Box 4956,
Kingston. ACT. 2604
Email: ceo@aasw.asn.au