A.C.T. Disability, Aged and Carer Advocacy Service (ADACAS)

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Guide to Commonsense Advocacy

What is Advocacy? | Essentials | The Advocacy Process | Confidentiality
Justice and Fairness | Active Listening Skills | Decision-making | Points to Remember |

• Advocacy is Commonsense
• Advocacy is about justice, fairness and equity for all people.
• Social advocacy is functioning (speaking, acting, writing) with minimum conflict of interest on behalf of the sincerely perceived interests of a person or group, in order to promote, protect or defend the welfare of, and justice for, either individuals or groups, in a fashion which strives to be emphatic and vigorous and/or which is actually, or very likely to be, costly to the advocate." - Wolfensberger
• "Advocacy" in this article means "standing by" someone - a parent, sibling or friend.
• This article does not try to develop a complicated model that can be applied to every advocacy issue. It offers suggestions on advocating for individuals in individual cases.
• There is seldom only one strategy to remedy injustice and inequity.

Contents

• Provide total confidentiality.
• Listen carefully.
• Examine your interpretation of justness and fairness. It is easy to discount others values as being unfair and unjust because they differ from ours.
• Stand by then stand back while the person is making their decision. The decision is not yours to make. Empower those your are helping - let them decide.
• Support vigorously those whose rights have been neglected.
• Be independent - have no conflict of interest.
• Support people to get fairness and justice. Don’t make them share your values.
• Be practical - concentrate on what might be achieved.
• Maintain awareness of the implications of issues with which you are dealing.

Contents

• Be clear about your role.
• Find and understand all the facts.
• Avoid conflicts around personality - stick to the issue.
• Listen to what is being said - seek clarification.
• Challenge ideas or issues when sensible to do so, and equally be prepared to have your ideas challenged as well.
• If you are speaking on behalf of someone make sure they feel comfortable enough to intervene at any time to correct matters or to gain a clearer understanding.
• Take time out from a discussion if necessary. Five minutes should suffice, or make another appointment to continue later.
• If someone wishes you can be present with them at any discussion. Tell others involved why you are there, and who you are supporting.

Contents

• Someone trusts you implicitly when they impart personal information to you and this trust is never betrayed.
• No other party is to be contacted, or the issue discussed with anyone at any time, without the prior approval of the person who wishes you to advocate for them.
• When the issue is closed:
  • Any information you as an advocate had, remains strictly confidential.
  • Papers entrusted to you relating to the issue or person must be returned. Hand them over to the person for whom you advocated. No copies are to be kept by you.

Contents

• Everyone is of equal value and importance.
• Principles of social justice and equity are about people being included and treated as equals in all the environments and settings around them - home, workplace, school, neighbourhood, as much as the broader community and society in general.
• Never make an assumption. While you should not lose sight of the justness and fairness of the issues, neither should you be too quick to assume that you know where the injustice lies. Very often the problems are much more deep -seated than they initially appear to be.

Contents

• Listen carefully to what you are being told. Concentrate on the issue. Do not be diverted on to side issues and personalities.
• Clarify the outcome sought. Listen to hear if what the person is seeking as an outcome is what they really want.
• Identify and reiterate main points of what is being said. Use this as a check of your understanding of the situation.
• Summarise the main points and the desired outcome.
• If more than one issue, separate them and handle one issue at a time.

Contents

• An advocate must possess a willingness to assist in the process that empowers others, and not take over him/herself.
• An advocate helps a client towards making a decision: the client makes the decision.
• Remember: stand by, then stand back. Taking over is a big danger. It is the easy thing to do. Far more enriching and empowering for everyone is to stand beside - be supportive and help get information - then stand back while the person makes their decision. To “own” a decision, a person must make it.
• People must be given the “dignity of risk”. There is always a risk - the decision might have a good or bad outcome.
• Give the information needed and stand back from decision making. If advice is asked, spell out the pros and cons and the likely outcomes of various options, but do not make the decision yourself. Emphasise strongly the decision is theirs.

Contents

• Advocacy can be simple or very involved.
• Some issues involve going to just one meeting. Other issues might take weeks or months to resolve.
• Urgent issues might leave little time for consideration or consultation. In this case, if possible, obtain more time by postponing immediate action. Otherwise seek courses of action that are not going to have irreversible consequences.
• Advocacy is a time consuming process.
• Help gather as much information as possible to resolve the issue.
• Issues cannot always be resolved in a single meeting.
• Ensure you understand the outcome that is being sought.
• Do not imply the advocacy you are doing has more authority than it has. You are simply there to speak up for the interests and rights of someone else.
• Make no assumptions.
• Take into account the human consequences of the desired outcome.

Contents

Edited by Beryl Homes, January 1997

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A.C.T. Disability, Aged and Carer Advocacy Service (ADACAS) Inc.
PO Box 144, Dickson ACT 2602
Office: Suite 207, Block C, Canberra Technology Park, Phillip Avenue, Watson
Phone: (02) 6242 5060   Fax: (02) 6242 5063  TTY: (02) 6242 5065.
Email us at adacas@adacas.org.au .

Last modified 12 February 2007