How did you first become involved with Audiology Australia and can you tell us a bit about Audiology Australia and the goals they strive to achieve?

Audiology Australia is the peak body representing over 95% of audiologists in Australia. Audiologists work with clients to help them to preserve, manage and improve their hearing, their ability to process and understand sounds, and their balance.

Audiologists help clients of all ages - from infants to older adults - and clients with complex needs improve their ability to communicate and interact in all situations.

I started with Audiology Australia in June 2016 as their Marketing and Events Manager. This newly created role was established to ensure the association fulfils its objectives outlined in its 2015-2018 strategic plan.

The strategic plan is built around four pillars;

• Education
• Engagement
• Advocacy and
• Professionalism

A major focus of my role is managing the delivery of initiatives under the two pillars education and engagement.

What do you personally feel has been the biggest challenge that Audiology Australia has overcome in your time with the organisation?

Like many national associations, Audiology Australia’s membership is spread across Australia but a majority in New South Wales and Victoria. A membership survey conducted in early 2016 highlighted the need for more varied CPD activities with a focus on online initiatives to support our regional members.

In the last six months, we have managed to launch a Member Value Webinar Series, exclusively and complimentary for members of Audiology Australia. This has been very well received with webinars selling out within 72 hours.

Just 10 days ago, we tested a hybrid event, where we live streamed select sessions from our WA Chapter Conference. Feedback being positive from this experiment now has given us the momentum to look at other hybrid events in the future.

How does the future look for Audiology Australia and what exciting projects are underway at Audiology Australia?

The next 12 months are going to be extremely exciting for us at Audiology Australia.

We are looking to implement a new integrated association management system. We have conducted a detailed review of all internal process with a view to identify business areas which are resource intensive and how we could improve the overall experience for members when interacting with us.

Due to the diverse and complex nature of Audiology Australia’s business requirements, finding a single solution that can meet all our requirements has been challenging. While no final direction or decision has been made on a technology solution, one of the areas of this project I am enjoying is evaluating how mainstream CRM used by commercial organisations can be tweaked to work for an association. Also, we are examining the viability of using “best-of-breed” technology solutions for different business areas (dedicated events software for events, dedicated marketing automation software for marketing and communication etc.) while ensuring these systems all connect with our key membership database so we have a centralised single source of truth for all our stakeholders.

Simultaneously, another key area we are working on at Audiology Australia is regulation of Audiology in Australia. There are currently two types of regulation of health professions that are recognised by the Australian Government:

1. Regulation under the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (NRAS) through registration with an Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) Board.

2. Regulation through clinical certification by a professional body that implements a “self-regulatory” model (i.e. non-Government regulated).

Audiology Australia does not meet the necessary requirements to be registered by AHPRA. Therefore, we are striving towards meeting the rigorous standards required for membership in the National Alliance of Self-Regulating Health Professions (NASRHP) and aims to meet the requirements by June 2017.

What would you say to someone starting out in the not-for-profit sector with a view to become a future leader?

Being an association professional was never a strategically planned career path I envisioned during my university days or in the early stages of my professional life. From having accepted a “job” 6 years ago, I now feel excited and proud to say I am an association professional.

Reflecting on my early years in the sector, I think one of the biggest learning curves which anyone new to the not-for-profit sector would face is working with volunteer members. Understanding the motivators of a range of individual members and learning how to channel this to ensure that the overall organisational goals are met would be one of the key factors to facilitate long term success in this industry.

Savio D’sa

Audiology Australia

www.audiology.asn.au