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

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What Are Our Rights?

Legal Rights | Consumer Rights, or "User Rights" | Human Rights
Denial of Rights | How Can You Complain About a Service?

The trouble with rights, as one Canberra lawyer has observed, is that too often they are what remains after everything else has been taken away. For example, you may believe you have a right to walk down the street. But this is only a right until a "No walk" sign is erected by an elected authority. ADACAS believes that, to be effective, a right must be available, realistic, and enforceable.

Broadly speaking, there are three main kinds of rights: legal rights (which are backed by legislation), consumer rights, and human rights.

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Legal Rights

Australia has a number of Acts which protect people’s legal rights. These include the Sex Discrimination Act, the Racial Discrimination Act, the Disability Discrimination Act and the Privacy Act. These Acts provide for heavy penalties if contravened.

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Consumer Rights, or "User Rights"

These are often called Consumer Rights, which can be a misleading description. The Consumer Affairs Bureau of the ACT government will deal with complaints which involve faulty goods or workmanship, but will refer any complaints about government services to the appropriate government department.

ADACAS believes that the term “user” is more aptly applied to people who use services which are provided by, or funded by, government. Examples of these services would be the Home and Community Care Program (HACC), the Disability Services Program, and programs run by Residential and Aged Care Services in nursing homes and hostels.

All three programs have produced statements of charters of rights and responsibilities for people who use them. For example, the HACC Statement lists six rights for service users:

• The right to respect for their individual human worth, dignity and privacy.
• The right to be assessed for access to services without discrimination
• The right to be informed about available services
• The right to choose from available alternatives
• The right to pursue any complaint about service provision without retribution
• The right to involve an advocate of your choice.

Services which are funded by government under the three programs listed above must repect these rights.

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Human Rights

These are the most non-specific of all rights, and often rely heavily on interpretation. For example, everyone has a right to appropriate medical treatment.

But this right is often dependent upon the person’s financial status and knowing how to access that treatment. Other “human rights” might include the following:

• The right to make decisions and to have choices
• The right to protection
• The right to justice
• The right to (adequate) shelter
• The right to freedom of movement
• The right to access and control over one’s own money
• The right to an education. (If education is compulsory, does it cease to be a right in its true sense?)
• The right to refuse treatment (eg medical treatment), unless subject to medical health legislation.

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Denial of Rights

People’s rights may not be respected because:

• Other people speak or decide for you
• Other people tell you what to do
• There are not enough services
• Services often lack resources to make the changes needed to help you achieve your rights
• Service providers may not always know or acknowledge the rights of the user
• Staff or advocates may be reluctant to speak up on behalf of people who use services
• You may feel uneasy about complaining about a service for which you are grateful
• You may not know it is OK to complain, or that you can receive the service in another way

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How Can You Complain About a Service?

• Speak to the person who is providing the service
• Speak to the person’s supervisor
• Ask for a friend or advocate to be with you while you make your complaint
• Write a letter to the coordinator or director of the organisation which is providing your service
• Contact ADACAS. We can give you information, or act on your behalf if you wish.
• Use Department Complaints Mechanisms.
• Some government departments (eg the ACT Board of Health) have a complaints mechanism.
• If the service is being provided by a private contractor, you can complain to the ACT Consumer Affairs Bureau.
• The Commonwealth Ombudsman provides free and partial investigation into complaints against government departments. Before approaching the Ombudsman however, it is best to speak to the department concerned. This can often save time.

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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