Advocacy

What is advocacy?

Advocacy is taking action to challenge what is unfair and unjust.

ADACAS advocates work with individuals and groups of people to achieve changes that will promote, protect and defend their human rights. We seek outcomes that enhance our clients’ rights and dignity, and empower our clients to:

  • be heard in the decisions that affect their lives
  • understand and exercise their rights
  • have control over their lives.

We work together with our clients, lawyers, health and community professionals, human rights agencies, and service providers to find workable solutions for our clients. Our work is done free of charge.

Advocacy explained in Auslan

ADACAS Individual advocacy

Individual advocacy is when we work together with you on a problem you need help to resolve.  We will represent only your views and interests when we work with you. We will help you understand the options available to you, and it is always your right to decide how you want us to help. We can: 

  • speak up, act or write on your behalf, or
  • support you to speak up about your rights or experiences.

If necessary and you give us consent, we will involve your family and your other supports in the advocacy process.

We work across a wide range of advocacy topics including: 

  • the National Disability Insurance Scheme (the NDIS) issues and appeals
  • access to and quality of aged care, mental health and disability services
  • the rights of parents with disabilities and child protection
  • mental health care rights
  • housing
  • access to justice
  • the National Redress Scheme
  • the Disability Royal Commission
  • health
  • education
  • employment
  • discrimination and complaints
  • decision making rights.

“It has been cup filling to come across folks like yourself who genuinely want the best for the people you support, who understand that real advocacy is not about foot stomping and squeaky wheels but rather mentoring and quiet guidance, and who understand the challenges of handing over control to someone else, when we ourselves lack so much control in our lives”.

Make a referral for ADACAS to help you or someone you know with Advocacy

If you need our advocacy services or to make a referral for someone you support please use the button below, or you can contact us by either ringing or emailing us.

Make a referral                   Contact ADACAS

I want to help myself

Find information about services in the Canberra region that can help you.

ADACAS Systemic Advocacy

Systemic advocacy means working to seek change in “systems” that provide support or affect rights for groups of people. These could be:

  • structures
  • organisations
  • laws, or
  • policies and practices.    

Through our systemic advocacy we seek to influence broader policy and service outcomes to improve the lives of more people with disability, people experiencing mental ill health, older persons, and carers than we would be able to assist through our direct individual advocacy work.

Our systemic advocacy priorities page outlines our work in this area.

ADACAS Systemic Advocacy Priorities

Improve your community through your experiences

Sharing stories can be a powerful way to persuade others and to create change. Help us make a difference in the community by sharing your story with us. We only share personal stories when it is relevant to our systemic advocacy and when people consent for us to do this.

You can fill in the form below, or you can call or email us and let us know that you would like to help with our systemic advocacy by sharing your story.

 Contact ADACAS

Tell us your story

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