Earlier this month, we held a hugely successful national rehabilitation conference with our partners from the Australasian Society for the Study of Brain Impairment.  We used this conference as an opportunity to run a kanohi ki te kanohi AGM for 2019, plus to host a breakfast discussion session on the future and direction of the NZRA.  The minutes to the AGM are now up on our website.  Of note, Nicola Kayes stepped down as president of the NZRA as she had reach the end of her term.  A huge thank you to A/Prof Kayes for her enormous contribution to the NZRA, including the coordination of several conferences and for her networking with key stakeholders in Aotearoa.  Also standing down, having reached the end of their terms as executive members, were Kath McPerson, Will Taylor, and Max Cavit.  Thank you to Kath, Will, and Max, for this long term contribution to the NZRA. 

We have several new members joining the NZRA: Dr Leanne Parker (a rehabilitation physician from Southern Cross Health), Annie Jones (Clinical Partner at ACC), and Felicity Bright (a speech language therapist from AUT University).  I will be returning to the NZRA Executive after a four year departure, and have accepted the role of President for the next term.  Felicity has accepted the role of Secretary for the organisation as well.  Staying on the NZRA Executive are: Debbie Snell (as Treasurer), Rachelle Martin, and Peter Larmer.

You can also now check out the profiles of all of the NZRA Exec members on our website.

The NZRA Exec is now meeting once a month.  This year, we aim to complete some strategic development work to provide our organisation with a clearer sense of purpose and direction.  We are interested in our opportunities to grow and contribute more to the NZ rehabilitation community.  We are also interested in increasing diversity within our organisation and its leadership.  If you would like to get more involved yourself, please get in touch!

William Levack is an Associate Professor of Rehabilitation at the Rehabilitation Teaching & Research Unit, University of Otago, Wellington, New Zealand. Twitter: @DrLevack