An overview
The establishment of this inquiry
The committee's areas of interest
The conduct of this inquiry
The committee's public hearings
The committee's site visits
Acknowledgements
Background
The structure of this report

The costs of not acting or delaying intervention
The cost of inaction in Aboriginal communities
The cost of inaction among young people
The impact on older workers
Weighing the benefits against the costs of intervention

The lack of national data on the incidence of speech and language disorders
The need for improved data on the incidence of speech and language disorders
The incidence of speech and language disorders by demographic group
Prevalence by type of speech or language disorder
Committee view

The number of speech pathology Medicare service items
Figure 4.1: Number of speech pathology Medicare items—July 2004 - April 2014
Chart 4.1: Medicare speech pathology services by age & gender, 2009– 2014
The lack of reliable data on the demand for speech pathology services
Demand as reflected in public waiting lists
Demand for private speech pathology services
Demand for speech pathology services in rural areas
Mapping demand for speech pathology services
Projected demand for speech pathology services
Table 4.1: Speech pathology services and speech pathology equipment supports offered by National Disability Insurance Scheme, 12 May 2014
Committee view

The number of speech pathologists in Australia
Table 5.1: Number of speech pathologists
Table 5.2: Public and private speech pathologists by state and territory
Graph 5.1: Number of speech pathologists—public and private sectors
Table 5.3: Speech pathologists in Australia by region
Gaps in speech pathology services in Australia
Map 5.1: Location of speech pathologists, Melbourne: developmental vulnerability
The provision and adequacy of private speech pathology services
Committee view on the shortage of speech pathology services for children

Publicly funded speech pathology positions
The frequency and flexibility of public funding
Direct funding to support private speech pathology options
Community capacity building
The challenge of training speech pathologists
Table 6.1: Commencements in Speech Pathology, 2005-2012* Source: Selected Higher Education Statistics - Department of Education
Table 6.2: Enrolments in Speech Pathology, 2005-2012* Source: Selected Higher Education Statistics - Department of Education
Table 6.3: Completions in Speech Pathology, 2005-2012 Source: Selected Higher Education Statistics - Department of Education
Table 6.4: Commencements and expected graduations in 2013 and 2014
Service delivery models
Committee view

The need for collaboration with key stakeholders