Speech and Language Therapy - Massey University

30/09/2026

The time has finally come for our Part 4 final year tauira to fly the nest! On Monday they start their final placement - the last maunga to climb before fully qualifying and making their mark in the workforce. Today Celia Butler helped some of them with one last practice in making sense of referral data, conducting a plan and talking about cases with other professionals. They nailed it.

The future of SLT is in good hands.

Go well on the last part of your journey, students. Kia kaha, kia māia, kia manawanui.

29/09/2026

Calling singers, actors, musical theatre performers and other high-demand voice users!

The Massey University Speech-Language Therapy Clinic is offering a short Professional Voice Users Group exploring vocal health, vocal fatigue, efficient voice use, warm-up and recovery.

Please see the brochure for full information and registration details.
We’d also really appreciate it if you could share this with performers or performing arts communities who may be interested

https://apc01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.flipsnack.com%2F9FCDC8A8B7A%2Fprofessional-voice-users-group&data=05%7C02%7CE.Quigan%40massey.ac.nz%7Cfcb48570e8f942ecefa908df1dcb7548%7C388728e1bbd0437898dcf8682e644300%7C0%7C0%7C639262434368031323%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=%2FGjtNwzTmUReWOBqO8yddUJCgKLYFn6aQpWwDTsy7yU%3D&reserved=0

18/09/2026

Dream team 👏

14/09/2026

Enrolments now open! https://www.massey.ac.nz/study/all-qualifications-and-degrees/bachelor-of-speech-and-language-therapy-with-honours-UHSPL/

10/09/2026

Thanks Air NZ and Autism NZ 👏👏👏

Learn what you might see, hear, feel, and do when you fly with Air New Zealand. Read our social story to help you know what to expect on your journey.

10/09/2026

We are so proud of Tracy’s part in this incredible work. Recommended reading for all SLTs! Get it straight to the top of your list.

Tracy is the Kaiakiaki Māori for our programme, and also does so many other things for the profession - many that people don't even know about!

10/09/2026

Remember when we shared the story of our first student placement with Auckland Libraries a while back?

Today we celebrated the launch of a permanent resource for librarians that came out of that placement: the Communication Accessibility Toolkit, authored by our wonderful tauira Mat Rope and Zara Sebi Mohamed. It uses Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles alongside Te Whare Tapa Whā to share simple, practical ways to make libraries more inclusive spaces.

As part of the launch, Dr Prianka Parusnath facilitated a webinar for librarians across the city: Universal design, Total Communication and storytime for everyone.

Kat Tierney, lead and coach from the libraries shared some UDL wisdom she's picked up along the way: “if we design for the margins, the middle benefits too”. SLT knowledge isn't just about helping those who fit “other” categories. We have knowledge and skills to help design better, more vibrant, more inclusive communities

If you have connections to a local library or community space, get in touch. Student placements like this one don't just support learning, they can help create resources and lasting change in the places we all share.

11/06/2026

This RNZ Checkpoint article from yesterday is worth a read.

SLT students do unpaid placements too. It’s part of how you learn to be a clinician, and we know the learning that happens on placement is some of the most meaningful of your whole degree. But that doesn’t make the financial reality any easier.

Travel, childcare, not being able to pick up shifts, fuel costs adding up week after week - particularly the fuel right now.

We support the Paid Placements Aotearoa campaign and the conversations about equity when it comes to training our future workforces. We think this conversation matters for SLT just as much as it does for nursing, social work, and teaching.

To our students on placement right now: we see the effort and sacrifice you’re putting in. Aroha nui.

With rising fuel prices and cost of living, trainee nurses, teachers, medical students, midwives and social workers are only just able to keep their heads above water.

11/06/2026

This week we had the privilege of hosting the annual programme accreditation hui. Perhaps not everyone will know this, we are one of three universities in Aotearoa preparing tauira/students for the SLT workforce. The University of Auckland offers a master’s programme, the University of Canterbury offers both a bachelor’s and master’s programme, and Massey University educates future SLTs via distance modality (from anywhere in the motu) at bachelor’s level. No matter where or how tauira learn to become a speech-language therapist, they all graduate ready to practise and eligible for new graduate NZSTA registration.

That's why collaboration matters. Alongside the New Zealand Speech-language Therapists' Association we support each other and hold each other to account, to ensure our curricula are grounded in Te Tiriti, responsive to the needs of Aotearoa, and forward-looking.

What made this year different is that it was the first year we used the new framework, Ngā Kete. This framework is a genuine reflection of where we are as a profession, and a guide for where we could be. Documents like this are often dry and not the sort of thing anyone outside those directly involved would choose to read. Ngā Kete is different. It’s readable and relevant to anyone in the field of speech-language therapy, and even those outside it who are curious about what we do. It's a document we are very proud of. Don’t take our word for it though. Have a read for yourself: https://speechtherapy.org.nz/careers/university-programmes/programme-accreditation-framework/

Thank you to everyone on the committee which includes sector, university, and NZATA representation - including our very own Mershen Pillay for all the work to make sure the future of speech-language therapy is bright. Here’s a photo of some of the people from our hui ☺️

New and recent grads, we'd love to share your stories of how you’re settling into your mahi…

09/06/2026

Auckland Libraries are inclusive spaces for everyone to enjoy, and Massey University SLT students Mat Rope and Zara Sebi Mohamed have been exploring how speech-language therapists can share their knowledge to realise this vision through a first-ever community placement with Auckland Libraries. They worked alongside clinical educator Dr Prianka Parusnath and field educator Alexis McCullough. Together, they developed an accessible communication toolkit for library programmes across the region. This is a really exciting example of innovative practice.

Huge congratulations to Prianka, Mat, and Zara on this exciting mahi!

Thanks, New Zealand Speech-language Therapists' Association for the profile in Communication Matters.

Read the full article here: https://speechtherapy.org.nz/assets/Communication-Matters-Articles/2026-Communication-Matters/Communication-Matters-Hotoke-Winter-2026-web.pdf?vid=4