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Excellence in Speech-Language Therapy Practice Award

The Marion Saunders trustees invite applications for the Marion Saunders Excellence in Speech-language Therapy Practice Award.

This award is for an innovative project that clearly demonstrates clinical/practice application and impact within the  New Zealand context. Your written abstract, and presentation at the professional development symposium, would need to highlight how it meets these criteria.

Value of award: $1,000 (awarded every year of the professional development symposium) 

Application and Eligibility

This biennial award is open to all NZSTA members with a presentation accepted at the NZSTA professional development symposium.  

The closing date is the deadline for abstract submission to the symposium.

This award is for an innovative project that clearly demonstrates clinical/practice application and impact within the  New Zealand context. 

Your written abstract, and presentation at the professional development symposium, would need to highlight how it meets these criteria.

When you submit your abstract for consideration for the symposium, you can indicate if you want to be considered for the Marion Saunders Trust Award.

The award process is as follows:

Each year, the NZSTA will chair and convene a panel made up of*:

  • a representative from one of the accredited universities
  • a representative from the NZSTA Board (panel chair)
  • two practising speech-language therapists (ensuring representation from health. education, and private practice in rotation)
    * No panel member will also be a contender for the Marion Saunder's award.

The executive director will inform the trustees of the make-up of each panel and provide copies of each accepted abstract.

The panel will be responsible for reviewing the abstracts, listening to the oral presentations and scoring.  The panel chair will collate the score sheet from each of the judges, aggregate the scores between the judges, and provide the trustees with a written recommendation of the decision.

The trustees make the final decision with weighting given to the panel's recommendation, which will have considered the spirit and intent of the award.

Award Recipient from Previous Years

  • 2022 recipient: Megan Eustace - for Aspirations for speech-language therapy services to Māori following stroke.
  • 2017 recipients: Alayne McKee and Sally Kedge – for ‘Speech Langauge Therapists Human Rights Enablers’
  • 2014 recipients: Roz Young, Jannelle Irvine, Voon Pang and Sharne Lucas – for ‘The Pilot Mentoring Programme for PWS by PWS: Preliminary Evidence’.