DARU courses are designed primarily for advocates working within funded disability advocacy organisations to supports skill development for providing human rights based advocacy practice. However everyone is welcome to give them a go.
The courses are:
- Available online free of charge
- Structured with self paced modules that you can complete at your convenience
- unaccredited but learners receive a Certificate of Participation upon completion (certificates are not provided for short courses).
What’s on offer?
The longer multi-module courses include:
An introduction to disability advocacy
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. This course introduces what it takes to be an effective advocate and provides a strong foundation in the human rights framework, and other protections, for people with disability.
Best practice in disability advocacy
This course is a foundation in how to provide best practice individual advocacy. You will learn how a person with disability works through advocacy issues with the assistance of advocates from a fictional disability advocacy organisation – All Areas Advocacy. Working through a series of real life scenarios you will get practical experience in applying the principles and skills of disability advocacy.
Get started on best practice course
Systemic advocacy
Systemic advocacy is all about creating positive change for many people. In this course Dr George Taleporos, disability rights advocate, expert in disability service reform, PhD (psych), and Policy Manager at the Summer Foundation and Amy Ferguson,Managing Director at For Purpose, give you tools and tactics to create positive systemic change for people with disability.
Get started on systemic advocacy course
Advocacy at the intersections: Working along side LGBTIQA+ people with disabilities
In this course you will learn how to advocate for LGBTIQA+ people with a disability. You will learn common terms and language used in LGBTIQA+ community and the impacts of intersectionality. You will understand the issues effecting LGBTIQA+ people with disabilities and how to create a more inclusive environment for LGBTIQA+ people with disabilities.
Get started on the intersections course
Short courses include:
Accessible online meetings
Practicing social distancing has changed the way we communicate particularly with the rapid move to video conferencing platforms such as Zoom and Skype. Being online can represent lots of challenges for people with disability, but it also provides opportunities that can lead to increased accessibility which enables people with disability to participate in a more equal and inclusive way. This short course will help you make your online meetings more inclusive.
Get started on accessible online meetings short course
How to be disability inclusive
Disability awareness is generally low in the broader community. Have you ever found yourself not making the effort to connect out of fear of saying or doing the wrong thing? Well, it’s just this that makes people with disability feel invisible and excluded. In this short course you will learn to understand what inclusion means to people with disability, what disability etiquette is and how to meet, write and talk about people with disability.
Get started on inclusion short course
Human rights model of disability
The concept that all human beings are born free and equal with dignity and rights is not new, but it has taken a long time for that concept to translate to how people with disability are treated and included in everyday life. Despite a dedicated international convention being in place, making rights real for people with disability is still slow largely due to underlying attitudes and presumptions held in society. In this short course you will learn How the models of disability describe attitudes that either hinder or advance the rights of people with disability, and you will understand that how we talk about disability matters.
Get started on human rights model short course
Ableism: what it is and what we can do about it – course promo
Despite reforms and legislation to protect against unfair outcomes for people with disability in all areas of life, discrimination and barriers to equal opportunity continue. It’s the attitudinal and systemic discrimination that legislation can’t protect against and it has a name. It’s called ableism. In this short course, you will learn about ableism in Australia, where disability prejudice comes from and what it looks like in the community, and How to take a stand against ableism.
Get started on Ableism short course
Restrictive practices – tips for disability advocacy
In March 2021 the NDIA released the Regulated Restrictive Practices Guide which identifies each regulated restrictive practice and provides practice advice consistent with a positive behaviour support framework and contemporary evidence informed practice. This short course summarises content presented at an Advocacy Sector Conversations Forum presented by volunteer advocate,Julie Phillips. Topics include the guidelines unpacked, the effect and potential harm restrictive practise has, and some tips on how to advocate to protect the rights for people with disability with behaviours of concern.
Get started on Restrictive Practice short course
Disability Advocacy and the NDIS
The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) was welcomed in 2013. But it’s become complicated. The onus falls on people with disability to put their support needs into NDIS language, but much is lost in translation. So who can assist when misunderstandings arise and who can step in when things go wrong? In this short course you will learn about how the role of Disability Advocacy intersects with a Participants NDIS journey, and how this role differs from those of Local Area Coordinators and Support Coordinators.
Get started on disability advocacy and the NDIS
Advocating for Children with Disabilities in Primary and Secondary Schools
Despite the numerous inquiries, reviews, and new programs being introduced in the past two decades, there is a lack of significant improvements in educational outcomes for children with disabilities in Victorian schools. Very little useful data is collected and recurring problems in the school system, such as restrictive practices, restricted attendance based on disability, and issues with suspension, expulsion, and exclusion continues. This topic was the focus of the Advocacy Toolkit session held for advocates on 16 May 2023. This is a summary of that session and provides useful resources to assist advocates working with children with disability in the Victorian education system.
