59-05-032 Proceeding

326 Proceedings of the Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Congress the community, and setting up in private practice (Westwood, 2012; Woodcock, 2012). Most are employed in the health, mental health, education, special education and social/community sectors. Practitioners also need to continue to advocate for the profession as well as for their own individual practice. There is an ongoing need to educate other professionals about the value of arts therapy and the necessary high standard of specialised postgraduate training required for the professional level of ANZATA registration, in line with the highest level of international standards. Challenges Significant challenges for the arts therapies in our countries include: the small number of qualified practitioners; a lack of knowledge and awareness of the profession by the general public, other professions and governments; and isolation due to the large geographical spread of our members. Additionally, Dunphy, Mullane and Jacobsson’s review of the effectiveness of expressive therapies in Australia note the nascence of the profession with a consequent dearth of a research culture, and lack of understanding about arts therapy (2013, p. 13). In a move to reduce the isolation of practitioners ANZATA has encouraged the establishment of regional groups, offering grants for setup, and extra funds that can be applied for, to enable groups to invite guests for dialogue and professional development opportunities. ANZATA has over ten regional groups already functioning and more that are developing. In the past year, ANZATA has also offered an annual contestable research grant to members in order to encourage the development and dissemination of research. There has also been a lack of consistent governmental regulation of the allied health professions in Australia and New Zealand. ANZATA is investigating the best routes for members to become eligible for a national registration process that some professions already have, such as psychology and occupational therapy. Governments in Australia and New Zealand, however, consider organisations with memberships of our size too small to be considered for this in our own right. As a result, ANZATA is creating dialogue with larger professional bodies in these countries, which are in the process of applying for this status. The process of considering any more professions for national registration seems to have stalled in both countries at this time, so currently arts therapy remains in the category of ‘self regulation’, which some argue creates more flexibility and less restriction for the profession (Tudor, 2013). Professional arts therapy practice within Singapore remains unregulated at this time and local arts therapists remain cognizant of any relevant developments with the allied health professionals. ANZATA has had some significant successes however. ANZATA has liaised with the Australian Health Services Union to create pay awards in the health departments of several states (Eisdell, Shiell, &Westwood, 2007).The profession is now listed under the AustralianNewZealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZCO).