Change Makers

I am really very excited about be asked to be involved in the launch of Changemakers Australia. Excited because I feel passionate about the process of achieving change that benefits so many and because I know that it is not always easy and needs people to support it.

The materials that you have state that the Mission is to work for significant and long-term change. The assumption is that for philanthropy to be really effective activities should be directed to addressing the underlying causes of poverty, inequality, abuse of human rights and environmental degradation.

Systemic advocacy is advocacy designed to bring about positive outcomes… community values, standards and attitudes, power relationships, political processes, laws, legislation, policies, programs and structures, resource allocation, and services.

Systemic advocacy always comes second to the demands of the clients coming through the door. These are people who have crises and problems that are of prime importance to them and which need a response. I remember this in the 1970s when I was at the Fitzroy Legal Service and it was no different when five years ago I came to the Office of the Public Advocate. There I discovered that despite the view that I should engage in systemic advocacy, that I should lift the profile and recognition of issues, I had really no more than one third of one person to be allocated to that task. I set about a restructure that included getting at least one position that was sealed off from case work in order to concentrate of larger issues. Since then I am pleased to be able to say that I have extended that resource. With that has come our success in raising issues and realizing some positive outcomes.

Social change is happening all the time – largely as individuals we are reactive with the changes being imposed upon us by larger social, political or economic forces. It is therefore vital that agencies and groups that work with poverty and inequality and abuse seek to be themselves a force for change. That is not to say that they abandon their important role in providing individual help but that they use the accumulated evidence from that work - experience that gives them legitimacy - to mount a case for change.

For philanthropic organizations and individuals funding systemic advocacy presents many challenges.

Systemic advocacy requires great patience, for it can be very slow. There is a need to tolerate long-term development before there an observable return on investment. Let me give an example. The Office of the Public Advocate has the role of promoting and protecting the rights and interests of people with a disability – especially cognitive disabilities. As Public Advocate I have been concerned that there are Victorians (primarily men with an intellectual disability) who are locked up not for committing a crime but because it is feared that they may commit a crime and that this occurs without any legal basis and without providing transparent criteria, external review, or appeals rights. I have spent 5 years pursuing this issue and it is only now that we are within 2 weeks of a draft Bill being produced that will – I hope – remedy the situation.

So if you had asked me what I had achieved at the end of year 1 or 2 or 3 what could I have said to satisfy your faith in funding me?

Not only is systemic advocacy slow but it is difficult to measure. In this case I could only have reported on what actions I had taken, I might even one year have claimed success in asserting that I had gained the support of the Minister or that in the next year it was referred to the Law Reform Commission. These would have been important but in terms of benefits to those being abused they would hardly have been an outcome.

Systemic advocacy is not only difficult to measure but linking actions to outcomes can be difficult. Last year OPA put a substantial paper to the Corrections Commissioner arguing that people with an intellectual disability or acquired brain injury were over-represented in prison but they were unrecognized and therefore their needs were not being met and their rights were being neglected. His response has been extremely positive. But can I say that this was due solely to our advocacy? Or was it really that other factors coalesced and made our timing fortuitous? Sometimes adding your voice to that of others can be influential.

What is clear is that success with bringing about change is integrally tied to establishing credibility so that submissions are viewed seriously. Too often community agencies do not get the serious consideration that they should because they lack the personal connections or the reputation that are needed to get a foot in the door and to be taken seriously. That is where I see enormous potential for partnerships involving philanthropic organizations and individuals. They can back up their funding by using their clout, their contacts, and their credibility to be an active partner in working for systemic change.

We have had many successes – getting government to accept a role in funding low cost accommodation in the form of Supported Residential Services, reforms to enduring powers of attorney, and having outmoded institutions like Kew Cottages closed. But we have many battles that we continue to fight and may never win – like getting adequate levels of care for people who are suffering from a mental illness.

Individual advocacy - actions taken to protect the rights and interests of individuals – is and will remain important. However, the actions that we take to change attitudes, practices, funding and laws have an ongoing benefit and produce positive changes for a far greater number of people.

This message - the value of systemic advocacy needs to be more widely understood. The establishment of Changemakers Australia is a significant step to achieving this.

Changemakers Australia has been over 2 years in the making. Today’s launch represents a great deal of hard work by many people. It provides the opportunity for new models and new partnerships that can benefit many.

I join with all of you in expressing our great hope for the success of this venture.

It is therefore with very great pleasure that I launch Changemakers Australia.

Julian Gardner

Public Advocate