What is Advocacy? Advocacy is speaking, acting, and/or writing to promote and defend the rights, needs, and interests of people. The primary aim is to promote advocacy by assisting people to speak for themselves, but if they are unable to do so, an advocate speaks on their behalf. Advocates present things from the person’s perspective. Advocacy is about giving a voice to people who are marginalised and powerless. Kevin Stone (2002) suggests that being an advocate can involve three separate functions, namely: standing beside people with disability by assisting them to advocate own interests standing behind people with disability by supporting them to represent their own interests standing before people with disability by representing their interests. Assistance Strategies involved with standing beside people can involve: accompanying a person or group to meetings prompting and reinforcing the expressed views and interests of a person or group assisting in clarifying goals, developing strategies and advocating the views and interests of a person or group. Support Strategies involved with standing behind people can involve: providing the individual with effective training in self advocacy and advocacy skills supporting the individual to up providing advise to people with disability and their families on issues and strategies providing information which might enhance the advocacy of people with disability and their supporters. Representation Strategies involved with standing before people can involve: speaking or acting on behalf of people who are unable to assert or express their own views and interests speaking or acting as the nominated representative of an organisation or group speaking or acting as the appointed representative of an individual or group.
More About the Four Tasmanian Advocacy Services Advocacy Tasmania Inc. Advocacy Tasmania Inc. (ATI) is an independent, community based advocacy service that has been operating since 1991. ATI has five Advocacy Programs: Disability – for people with disability Mental Health – for people with a mental health disorder Home and Community Care (HACC) – for people in receipt of, or eligible to receive, HACC services Aged Care – for older people living in aged care facilities or receiving Community Aged Care Packages, Extended Aged Care in the Home (EACH) packages, or who are eligible to do so Alcohol, Tobacco and Drugs (ATOD) for those receiving services from, or seeking to access services in funded ATOD services. ATI also has two special projects: The Mental Health Tribunal Representation Scheme – for people appearing before Mental Health Tribunal Hearings. The Scheme provides free, competent, trained volunteers to represent people at hearings where their mental health orders are being reviewed The Dementia Rights Advocacy Project – for people with dementia, with priority to people in the early stages of dementia who have no family or friends to support them and advocate on their behalf. ATI’s primary role is to provide advocacy to individuals in the various target groups. In 2009/2010 ATI assisted over 1 250 people with individual advocacy, with the Disability Program assisting 480 people. In 2009/10 ATI and Speak Out each received funding for an additional advocate under the Sector Reform Project to help safeguard the rights and interests of the persons of the State Government run day support and respite services through the transition to non-government service provision. ATI is involved extensively in systemic advocacy. In 2009/2010 this included: work on unmet need for services, particularly individual support packages and supported accommodation prevention and responses to abuse of people with disability representation at Area Advisory Groups in each region, providing comment to the disability working groups and supporting persons and family members to have a say via their website and BLOG at ATI also conducts education and group work. In 2009/2010, ATI facilitated education and group work sessions involving 5 523 participants. Of these, the Disability Program worked with 1 023 participants. In work, ATI was involved in running residents’ groups in both government and non-government run residential facilities and workers’ groups in business services and day options services.
Speak Out Association of Tasmania Speak Out provides advocacy support to people with disability. Speak Out aims to support people with disability to: advocate for their own interests and to become more active and instrumental in claiming their rights create an awareness of the individual and specific of people with disability educate the community on issues relating to people with disability. This is achieved through one-to-one support, self advocacy skills development and community education. Speak Out offers support for: employment committees residents’ committees Day Service committees individuals on Boards of Management training and education for people with disability (e.g. assertiveness training) training for support workers interest groups that meet monthly in Hobart, Launceston and Burnie an annual conference information and referral to other services an information and resource centre (videos, books, posters, pamphlets, training manuals etc) Networking with other services. Individual advocacy is provided when a person with disability feels that their needs are not being met, that they have been treated unfairly or when the person’s supports have broken down and the individual is at risk. Due to its extensive membership throughout Tasmania, Speak Out is able to provide opportunities to facilitate effective community consultation with people with disability/and or their family on the issues that affect them.
The Myths of Advocacy – What Advocacy Isn’t Advocacy and Adult Guardianship There are key differences between the role of the advocate and the role of a guardian. A guardian is someone legally appointed by the GAB, or appointed under an instrument of enduring guardianship. Depending on the situation, a guardian has the power to make decisions/provide consent for a range of issues (e.g. medical treatment, accommodation, lifestyle issues) on behalf of an adult who is unable to do so for themselves. It is important that disability funded service providers are required to notify the person’s guardian if there has been an incident with the person, or to consult with a guardian before making any major changes to accommodation or health care. A guardian must make a decision taking into account the person’s wishes wherever possible, their best interests and their freedom of decision and action. A guardian is also expected to advocate on behalf of the person. The Public Guardian is also expected to undertake a systemic advocacy on behalf of people with disability. As previously mentioned, advocacy is standing with, and sometimes speaking for, a person to ensure their rights are recognised and respected. An advocate can be a friend, a family member, or someone from an advocacy service. Authority for the advocate to act comes from a request from the person. Decisions to act are therefore made by the person (Disability Action Inc, 1997 (2)). The primary difference between a guardian and an advocate is that a guardian is a substitute decision- maker whereas an advocate does not make decisions on behalf of the person. Situations can where a person who has a guardian will request the services of an advocate. The person may need assistance in expressing their wishes to the guardian. An advocate also has a role in making sure that the guardian remains accountable for the decisions they make on the represented person’s behalf. In many cases guardianship orders are limited to one area of a person’s life (e.g. accommodation) and this means an advocate can represent the views of a person in other areas of their life.
Gateway and Advocacy Services Gateway and advocacy services work together in the following situations: Advocacy An advocate may refer the person with disability on their behalf to the Gateway Service for information, or for an assessment for access to specialist disability services. An advocate may also contact the Gateway on the person’s behalf if their needs have changed and they require an updated assessment An advocate may contact the Gateway Service on behalf of the person if they are requesting a transfer from their current accommodation or community access placement An advocate may have an ongoing working relationship with LAC for people who have complex needs, or require ongoing case coordination. This will include being involved in the individual planning process, and case conferences as required – so that the person’s needs and wishes are represented if they are not able to advocate for themselves. Gateway Services Gateway Services may make contact with an advocacy service as part of the assessment process to gather more information about the person being referred (with the person’s consent) If a Targeted Assessment for Disability Services has been completed, the Gateway Services will make contact with the advocate if they are identified as a significant stakeholder (with the person’s consent) in the individual planning process Gateway Services can refer people they are working with, for advocacy support. This could be for individual advocacy, citizen advocacy, or for family support for parents of a child with disability Gateway Services may work with advocacy services in monitoring services for people on their case load Gateway Services has an obligation to remind people with disability that advocacy supports are available when they are making decisions about the services they receive or other significant life matters. Advocates on the other hand should be concerned with gaining empowerment and justice for individuals. Their role is neither to assess needs nor to plan services. This is the role of the Gateway Service. In a situation where there is conflict, advocates take a clear position on the side of the individual and are there to assist the person to present their views, either by supporting the person to speak up for themselves or by representing the person’s views to the other parties. The role of the advocate in this situation is to assist the person to exercise their right to have their case heard.