Advocacy
Effective disability advocacy promotes, protects and supports a person’s, or group’s, full and equal human rights.
Advocates support or work on behalf of a person with disability to help them to speak out and defend their rights and interests.
There are six main models of advocacy:
- Self advocacy
- Family advocacy
- Citizen advocacy
- Individual advocacy
- Legal advocacy
- Systemic advocacy
While advocates work in different ways under each of these models there are some key aspects to being an advocate that apply to all.
Advocates need to:
- listen to the person they are working with
- find the issues that they can help them with
- give the person information about their options for addressing the issues
- help them to present and express their views and wishes to others
- help them to understand and defend their rights
- be independent and be on the side of the person with disabilities and no-one else’s.
Advocacy Agencies who can help:
- Advocacy WA
- Citizen Advocacy Perth West
- Developmental Disability WA
- Disability Advocacy Network Australia
- Midland Information Debt & Legal Advocacy Service
- Mental Health Advocacy Service
- Health and Disability Services Complaints Office
- People With Disability Australia
- People With Disabilities WA
- Kin – Disability Advocacy for Diverse Communities
- SECCA
- Office of the Public Advocate
- Transitional and Interpreting Service (TIS National)
