O
ver the last year I have seen extraordinary resilience from the sonography profession, as well as the ASA, in adapting to living in a world full of uncertainty, adopting new ways of working, learning, and connecting with people.
Jodie Long, CEO, ASA
I am extremely proud of what the ASA has been able to provide for its over 7100 members in the last 12 months. In a year where holding face-to-face events was extremely difficult, the ASA still delivered 32 face-to-face events to over 1000 members across Australasia. This was in addition to two conferences, one fully virtual in October and a hybrid held in Brisbane in May, which enabled all members to attend regardless of their location or restrictions. We also partnered with Echo Australia to deliver its iconic annual conference to over 400 attendees online in October. Conferences with an online element are here to stay and provide us with the opportunity to offer a wider pool of key speakers. We were fortunate to offer 14 international speakers at the Brisbane Hybrid Conference. The record attendances by members demonstrates the value of online conferences,
with over 2700 attendees to our two conferences.
CEO’S REPORT Sonographers looked to the ASA for support over the last year, and the ASA continued to provide resources to assist sonographer mental health and wellbeing. In addition to this, the ASA also provided regular and timely announcements on changes, guidelines and recommendations that affected a sonographer’s practice. Online learning was in high demand over the last year with over 20,000 online activities undertaken
through our new learning management system. In addition, conference attendees had access to 291 conference recordings for a minimum of three months after the conference, so they didn’t miss a session. Sonographers have always felt professionally invisible and over the last year the ASA has continued to increase awareness of sonographer expertise by running two social media awareness campaigns. In October, the first campaign ran the existing 10 advertisements that were launched last year, and then in May, the second campaign introduced 6 new advertisements. The 6 new advertisements covered three different areas where sonographers have an impact. A total of over two million people were reached through both campaigns. The ASA has continued this year advocating for sonographers to be regulated in Australia to ensure the protection of the public’s health and safety. A submission was provided to the federal health department in April
6 | ASA ANNUAL REPORT 2020–21
