Nell Brown

Family member of a person with disability

Thank you for the opportunity to have my say on the state of advocacy as I see it in Australia today. Little has changed beyond a move further towards silencing critics.

I believe it is worth considering that good advocacy is not just a united voice, it is where people can have their views and wishes genuinely considered when decisions are being made about their lives and the lives of the people they support, particularly if the people they support are unable to articulate their needs comfortably and have their differences respected rather than forced to conform to a set criteria.

The additional paper solidifies my belief that people with moderate/severe/profound intellectual disability with perhaps additional complex needs, currently have no place or voice within the National Disability Advocacy Program. Their unique needs will continue to be given short shrift while ever the family voice is excluded.

With regards
Nell Brown