Disability Justice Australia Inc

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Systemic Advocacy

The Department of Health Disability and Ageing (DHDA funds our Systemic Advocacy work through the National Disability Advocacy Program (NDAP).

As a cross disability membership organisation, we undertake a range of Systemic Advocacy activities and campaigns on behalf of clients and members which are identified by disability advocates then approved by the Board.

Systemic Advocacy policy and procedure

We have a Systemic Advocacy policy and procedure. This enables us to prioritise issues presented by clients for both Advocacy services and referrals as well as issues that are raised by DJA members, staff, and the Board of Directors.

We work strategically with key stakeholders and have developed strong partnerships with other disability organisations on a range of different Systemic Advocacy issues, which are listed internally under the following systemic campaign headings approved by the DJA Board of Directors:

  • Access to Justice
  • Accommodation
  • Federal and International Disability Rights
  • Transport
  • Discrimination
  • Access to Services
  • Health Services
  • Individualized Funding

Discrimination as a systemic advocacy issue takes up considerable time because it is evident in all 8 of the activities we undertake in the above campaign headings.

Partnership with the Australian Federation of Disability Organisations

We have a key partnership with the Australian Federation of Disability Organisations (AFDO) and work closely with them on topical issues including the NDIS, accessible public transport, funding for people with disabilities and accommodation, to name a few. DJA has been represented on the Executive of the AFDO Board since November 2012.

Our Systemic Advocacy strategies

We employ a range of strategies to advocate for Systemic change, including:

  • Written submissions to various inquiries.
  • Face-to-face and online meetings with federal and state government senior officials, including Ministers and their advisors. 
  • Collaboration with other organisations.
  • Face-to-face and online meetings with key stakeholders such as policy makers and senior departmental officers.
  • Presentation of research findings and reports at international forums e.g., UN Conference of State Parties in New York, Disabled Peoples’ International and the Pacific Disability Forum. 
  • Online presentations at conferences and major events.
  • Submissions in our own right as well as with AFDO to members of parliament and government departments.
  • Media articles.
  • Complaints under state and federal discrimination legislation.
  • Use of social media such as Facebook.

Our Systemic Advocacy outcomes

We achieve fantasic Systemic Advocacy outcomes by:

  • Developing written systemic advocacy plans for each campaign. 
  • Partnering with or being members of other organisations, alliances, campaigns, groups and working with key stakeholders to maximise the input from people with disabilities and others with relevant skills, knowledge and experience to facilitate change. 
  • Holding face-to-face and online meetings with key stakeholders based in Australia and with international delegations when visiting Australia.
  • Making submissions to parliamentary or departmental inquiries. 
  • Making online presentations at international forums e.g., UN Conference of State Parties in New York. 
  • Making online presentations at conferences to Systemic advocacy partners.
  • Making Submissions to members of parliament.

Here are some examples of our work:

Membership of the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission Working Group

The Working Group undertook ground-breaking research on the Relinquishment of Children into state care.

This report “Desperate Measures” estimated that:

  • 50 or more families surrender the day-to-day care of their child with disability to the state each year.
  • Relinquishment is not new and may be increasing.
  • Over half the organisations surveyed reported that relinquishment is more prevalent now than two years ago.

You can download a copy of this report and summaries of the main findings here.

Respite for children with disabilities in the City of Whittlesea

This was a community campaign called Respite for Whittlesea (RAW) which was auspiced and led by DJA in partnership with the City of Whittlesea Council which campaigned strongly for state government funding for Respite Facilities in the municipality where there none whatsoever.

The campaign was so successful that in the space of just 6 years, two new facilities were opened with a 6 bed respite facility at Epping for 12-25 year olds and a 6 bed adult respite facility at South Morang with $4 million in funding capital funding from the Victorian State government.