About this course

Disability advocacy is  vital for empowering people with disability to exercise their human rights and avoid discrimination. Disability advocates work to ensure that the voice of the person with a disability is heard and is central to all decision making in all areas of life that affect them. In this program you will learn:

• How disability advocacy fits into a Human Rights framework
• The basics of discrimination law
• How people with little or no decision making capacity are protected by law
• How advocates use the complaints bodies operating in Victoria to ensure the rights of people with disability are upheld
• What skills and knowledge an effective disability advocate uses
• How to identify and respond to incidents of abuse and neglect
• How to apply advocacy practice

Watch the promotional video to gain a good overview of the course.

Who is this course for?

This course is designed with new disability advocates in mind. However anyone who does advocacy in their everyday lives will find this course valuable including:

• People with disability
• Parents and other family members
• Disability support workers
• Allied health professionals
• Government representatives

Acknowledgements

This project was made possible through a Disability Advocacy Innovation Grant, an initiative of the Victorian Government. It was supported by a dynamic working group and a series of expert subject advisors. In particular, thanks goes to the Victorian Office of the Public Advocate and Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission , the Australian Human Rights Commission, the Department of Social Services and the Disability Services Commissioner who were all generous  with providing feedback through the development stages and giving permission for their videos, publications and other resources to be used in this program. Finally, DARU would like to particularly acknowledge the disability advocates featuring in this course who work tirelessly to advance  the human rights of people with disability.  They have volunteered their time to this project and their commitment and insight was invaluable in giving a genuine perspective about disability advocacy.