What is Systemic Advocacy?
Systemic Advocacy is advocacy that works on changing systems. Sometimes systems need to be changed because the way they are is not good for some people in the community.
VALID’s systemic advocacy helps create a more inclusive community that serves the rights and interests of people with disability. It does this by working to change legislation (the law), policies and practices (how people with disability are supported). This is called ‘systemic change’.
The systems VALID works to change include the NDIS, government policies and legislation, disability services, health and education services, the justice system, and more.
VALID staff and self-advocates go to working groups and committees to talk about what people with intellectual disability want and need. We also write reports and submissions to government inquiries, and sometimes talk to the media about what’s happening for people with intellectual disability.
VALID’s systemic advocacy work aims to empower people with disability to:
- Exercise their human rights and citizenship status within their local communities.
For example: Working in mainstream employment with the right support is the human right of every Victorian citizen. VALID aims to support advocacy that empowers adults with intellectual disability to get jobs where they will earn at least minimum wage.
- Inform and influence the policies and practices of disability service agencies, governments and other authorities.
For example: The NDIS has lots of rules. VALID aims to empower adults with intellectual disability to share their knowledge with the NDIS to help write their rules.
- Have control and influence over the decisions and choices which affect their lives.
For example: Choosing where you want to live is a decision that affects your life. VALID aims to support advocacy that empowers adults with intellectual disability to have control over where they live.
- Influence public understanding and attitudes.
For example: VALID’s Building Communities team meets with groups that include people with and without disability. These groups meet in mainstream places like local libraries. This gives everyone the opportunity to be around a diverse range of people, share ideas, and share public spaces.
There are different ways to make systemic change. VALID does it by:
- Working with other organisations
- Making submissions to government
- Publishing Position Statements on issues that affect adults with disability.
1. VALID’s work with other organisations
VALID works with different networks, alliances, advisory groups and representative bodies. We do this to have more influence over systemic change for adults with intellectual disability.
This is why VALID is:
- Victoria’s Agency Member of Inclusion Australia
- An active member of the Disability Advocacy Network of Australia (DANA)
- A member of the Victorian Government’s National Disability Insurance Scheme Implementation Task Force
2. Submissions and Media
VALID makes submissions to federal and state government inquiries and organisations like the NDIS. We do this to make sure the voice of people with disability, especially intellectual disability, is heard when government laws and policies are changed.
Submissions and media from VALID include:
- Calls to Action: Supported Decision Making (PDF)(DOC)(Easy to Read PDF) (Easy to Read DOC)
- Response to DRC Recommendations (PDF) (DOC) | February 2024
- Letter to Minister Blandthorn | June 2024
- Media Release re Disability Advocacy Funding | June 2024
- NDIS Review: Building a strong, effective NDIS | August 2023
- NDIS Independent Assessments: Submission to the Joint Standing Committee on the National Disability Insurance Scheme | March 2021
- Response to the Victorian Government consultations on the proposed Registration & Accreditation Scheme | Oct 2017
- Productivity Inquiry into NDIS Costs | July 2017
- Response to the NDIS Quality & Safeguarding Framework and Other Measures Bill | July 2017
- Response to the Victorian Government consultations on Rights in SDA (Specialist Disability Accommodation) | July 2017
- Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into Abuse in Residential Settings | August 2015
- Submission to the Social Inclusion of People with Disabilities Inquiry
- Our Forgotten Families Report: Issues and Challenges faced by parents with a disability in Victoria
VALID also presented a submission to the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry in Services for People with Autism Spectrum Disorders in 2016.
3. Position statements
VALID publishes position statements on issues that affect adults with intellectual disability. Our Position Statement on Supported Decision Making will be published by early 2024.
VALID’s existing statements include:
- Supported Decision Making (PDF) (DOC)
- Individual Funding Principles
- Supported Accommodation Principles
- The Advocacy Role of Disability Support Workers
- The Use of Facilitated Communication: ISAAC Position Statement on Facilitated Communication
- Individualised Funding
- Statement on Spirituality
- Statement on Independent Assessments
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If you want to be part of VALID’s systemic advocacy work, get in touch!
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