Statement on advocacy

Hireup supports the rights of people to appoint an advocate to assist with seeking support for their needs. If required Hireup will help to facilitate the appointment of the advocate. 

Role of an Advocate

An advocate can be involved in assisting a person seeking support in different ways including:

• Ensuring the person’s rights are being upheld
• Accessing information about the person seeking support from Hireup
• Attending meetings or discussions, which may impact on the service being received
• Assisting with making a complaint about the services provided by Hireup.

What happens if someone requests an Advocate?

• Hireup will reinforce that we support the use of an advocate
• We will provide timely information so people seeking support can make informed decisions about appointing an advocate
• Hireup will record the details of the appointed advocate on the user’s file
• If required, Hireup can provide information on recognised advocacy agencies
• If initial contact and registration is made by the advocate, Hireup will seek confirmation of the advocacy’s appointment from the person seeking support to ensure that there is no breach of privacy.

Privacy

While an advocate will be acting on behalf of a person seeking support, they must respect and protect the person's privacy at all times. Advocates must not share or disclose any personal information, without the permission of the person they are supporting.

Finding an Advocate

The first link below provides a state by state list of advocate agencies.  The second link will take you to an Australia-wide search tool for finding an advocate:

List of disability advocacy agencies funded under the National Disability Advocacy Program

Disability Advocacy Finder