OMAA

Orientation & Mobility Australasia (OMA)

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About OMAA
A history of O&M associations in Australasia

Introducing OMAA

Orientation and Mobility Association of Australasia (OMAA)

OMAA is the only formal professional body for Orientation and Mobility Instructors in Australasia. Although OMAA is incorporated in Australia, it encourages membership from the wider Australasian region and has taken on the role of national body to the extent of its constitutional limits.

OMAA supports its members through:

Networking meetings wherever members choose to gather, for face-to-face professional support and discussion.
Very informative discussions via email group: omaaustralasia@yahoogroups.com (members only)
Quarterly newsletters with articles ranging from current professional practice issues, new mobility aids, conferences and member activities.
The Orientation and Mobility Australasia website, www.omaaustralasia.com.
Representation of the O&M profession to students, community and government groups regarding issues affecting orientation and mobility services and consumers.
Professional development opportunities.
Providing a forum for participation in the growth of the O&M profession in our region.

Several OMAA members have volunteered to be key contacts for their State or region, liaising with the OMAA Executive on issues particular to their area, sourcing and submitting material for the OMAAVIEW newsletter, and checking State-specific information on this website for accuracy.

Go to the Join / Contact OMAA page to download an OMAA membership application/renewal form, to join the OMAA Email Group, and for contact details for executive officers and regional representatives. We are still looking for Regional Reps for New Zealand, ACT and NT.

Last updated: 02/02/2010

About Orientation and Mobility Association of Australasia

Background:

An OMA Working Party was established in July 2007 to advise OMSAV members and indeed all Australasian O&Ms on whether to, and how to, establish an Australasian O&M association.

Initially the Working Party sought input from all O&Ms in the region via a questionnaire which was sent to approximately 197 Orientation and Mobility professionals in

Australia

and

New Zealand

between 10 July – 3 August 2007. A total of 72 of responses were received.

The OMA WP then met by teleconference three times and developed a set of recommendations. These were submitted to OMSAV and discussed at the 2007 AGM. The main recommendations were:

That an Australasian association be re-formed to replace OMSAV (using OMSAV as the basis for it).
That the new association be called Orientation and Mobility Association of Australasia (OMAA).
That all O&Ms who are currently Associate Members be offered Accredited Membership status and thereby be entitled to full voting rights and privileges and that this be effected without further fee.
That Orientation and Mobility Assistants remain as Associate Members until such time as the Executive Committee votes to change the membership criteria.
That members of the Executive Committee must be Accredited Members and may reside anywhere in Australasia.
The inclusion of a Vice President on the Executive Committee, with the potential purpose of succeeding the term of the President.
The inclusion on the executive committee of the role of regional representatives and redefinition of the role.
The removal of the paragraphs, “To advocate on behalf of people with impairment on issues related to their orientation and mobility and their access to the general community” and “To promote a wide understanding among the general public of issues related to impairments and accessing the community” from the Statement of Purpose.

These recommendations were accepted in principle by the OMSAV 2007 AGM, and were also fully supported by the O&Ms who met to discuss this issue at the OMC3 Conference in Perth (October 2007). The OMA Working Party was asked to reconvene to prepare a draft constitution that OMSAV could adopt in order to formalise the new structure.

In 2009, these recommendations were adopted and a new professional body known as Orienatation and Mobility Association of Australasia (OMAA) was formed.
Last updated: 02/20/2010

A history of O&M associations in Australasia

The Guide Dog movement began in Australia in the early 1950s with the establishment of the first Guide Dog Association in Perth, WA. Orientation and Mobility emerged in the early 1970s employing expertise from the United Kingdom. The first O&M Instructors trained in Melbourne in 1971.

OMIAA (1971 - 1995)

Between 1971 and 1995, the Orientation and Mobility Instructors Association of Australasia hosted conferences, produced publications, acted as a consultant to individuals, organizations and training schools for O&M Instructors, established a fledgeling accreditation process and generally sought to maintain a high standard within the profession of Orientation and Mobility. The last publication from OMIAA was in 1995.

OMSAV (1998 - 2009)

In 1998, O&M Instructors working in Victoria again felt the need for a professional O&M body outside agency boundaries. The Orientation and Mobility Specialists’ Association of Victoria was established. In 2001, a group of O&M Instructors from Australia and New Zealand met in Adelaide to discuss the possibility of reinstating an Australasian professional body. Rather than create a new body from limited resources, the decision was made to use the existing OMSAV network to attain this goal. The first task given to OMSAV was to develop a website which would help to overcome the sense of isolation experienced by O&M specialists, and draw the profession together.
Last updated: 02/02/2010

Past Newsletters

'OMAAVIEW' is the quarterly OMAA newsletter. All recent issues of OMAAVIEW (previously OMSAVVY) are available here except for the current one. The current newsletter is a members' only benefit. Members will find the latest issue in the members' section (email webmaster@omaaustralasia.com if you have forgotten the password)

OMSAVVY Newsletter Issue 11 June 2008 (Word document)

OMSAVVY Newsletter Issue 9 December 2007 (Word document)

OMSAVVY Newsletter Issue 8 September 2007 (Word document)

OMSAVVY Newsletter Issue 7 June 2007 (Word document)

OMSAVVY Newsletter issue 6, March 2007 (PDF file)

Full text of "I'm Starting to Walk – I Can Use a Cane!" by Bronwen Scott (excerpt in issue six) (Word)

OMSAVVY Newsletter issue 5 December 2006 (Word)

Full text of "Performance Appraisal Leadership" by Michael Ocean (excerpt in issue five) (Word)

OMSAVVY Newsletter issue 4 June 2006 (PDF)

OMSAVVY Newsletter issue 3 February 2006 (Word)

OMSAVVY Newsletter issue 2 November 2005 (Word)

OMSAVVY Newsletter issue 1 June 2005 (Word)

OMSAV Newsletter February 2005 (Word)

OMSAV Newsletter July 2004 (PDF)

OMSAV Newsletter December 2003 (Word)

OMSAV Newsletter August 2003 (Word)