What is the project?
This is a joint project between OPAN and Disability Advocacy Network Australia (DANA). The Advocacy Standards Project aims to develop an Australian standard that has formal recognition and standing, that is auditable and capable of being deployed across the funded Advocacy sector in Australia as the key benchmark of quality and the driver of continuous improvement and development to ensure consistent and quality services to people we serve.
Standard is named AS-5391, and has members from OPAN, DANA, disability and older persons’ peak bodies, research bodies, and, of course, Advocacy agencies who will be the users of the Standard when complete. It also has officials from the Departments of Social Services and Health and Aged Care.
Read the Advocacy Standards FAQs, which explains what it is intended to achieve and how it is meant to be applied to ensure quality in the delivery of Advocacy.
What is the project going to achieve?
In the wake of the report from the Aged Care Royal Commission, the role of Advocacy for older people became more prominent, and this was reinforced during the COVID pandemic and its devastating impact on older people. The Disability Royal Commission is also highlighting the vulnerability of people with disability in their communities and in some specialist service settings, focusing the need for strong independent Advocacy.
The two peak bodies representing Advocacy, the Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN) and the Disability Advocacy Network Australia (DANA) agreed to work together to create a new Australian Standard specific to Advocacy for Aged Care and Disability, which can be used strengthen and continuously improve Advocacy, and enable agencies to demonstrate to government departments that they are achieving outcomes for the funding they receive.
Once the Standard is approved then there is a separate process that turns the Standard into a practical and applicable process that can be implemented on the at service outlets. This will be undertaken in conjunction with JAZ-ANZ.
The Technical Committee asked for Working Groups to be formed, made of up people working as Advocates in both the aged care and disability Advocacy sectors, and people who use Advocacy in both sectors. Three Working Groups were established to assist the Technical Writer appointed to us by Standards Australia with the expert content required to make sure quality in Advocacy was understood and captured in the text. The three Working Groups each met on three occasions to discuss and draft criteria which cover the following aspects of the Standard:
- Delivering Advocacy in a human rights framework
- Service design, access and delivery
- Governance, quality and systemic advocacy
Working groups were established to assist with the drafting process. Each working group consisted of four people from advocacy organisations (two from aged care and two from Disability) and four people with lived experience of ageing or disability. The working groups on four occasions, each work on a section of the standards
The Technical Committee has met on four occasions now, and has been making decisions about the wording of the Standard and suggesting work to be done by the Working Groups. The process is nearing an end, with a few Technical Meetings to take place to consider the Standard it its current form, and to determine whether or not it is ready to be released for public consultation – a critical part of the development process.
The Standard was developed by Standards Australia in consultation with the disability and aged care advocacy sectors. A Technical Writer was appointed by Standards Australia to draft the Standard in line with advice and recommendations of a Technical Committee constituted by Standards Australia.
The Technical Committee supplied expertise relating to advocacy for older persons and people with disability and comprised a diverse group including people with lived experience and people from the advocacy sector, stakeholders in the disability and aged care systems, government officials, research professionals with expertise in both aged care and disability, and others with experience in aged care, disability, advocacy and in the development of Standards.
The Technical Committee asked for Working Groups to be formed, made of up people working as Advocates in both the aged care and disability Advocacy sectors, and people who use Advocacy in both sectors. Three Working Groups were established to assist the Technical Writer appointed to us by Standards Australia with the expert content required to make sure quality in Advocacy was understood and captured in the text. The three Working Groups each met on three occasions to discuss and draft criteria that cover the following aspects of the Standard:
- Delivering Advocacy in a human rights framework
- Service design, access and delivery
- Governance, quality and systemic advocacy.
The Technical Committee met on eight occasions, to make decisions about the wording of the Standard, suggest work to be considered by the Working Groups and determine whether or not the Standard was ready to be released for public consultation – a critical part of the development process.
The draft Standard was released for public consultation on 20th October 2023. The formal consultation process established by Standards Australia ran for nine weeks and included the opportunity to provide feedback via the Standards Australia website or attend online or face-to-face consultation sessions facilitated by Capacity Services.
Through the consultation process, 88 public comments were received. The Technical Committee have resolved and responded to the public comments and the draft Standard was updated accordingly.
What next?
Members on the Technical Committee who represent a nominating organisation will now ballot on the updated draft Standard. An affirmative consensus vote is required for the draft Standard to proceed to publication. Following the ballot, the draft will be edited again into a pre-publication draft. This draft will go through a series of Standards Australia internal approvals and will then be published. If the ballot is successful, it is expected that the Standard will be published in May 2024.
Contacts:
Michael Bleasdale
Project Leader
mbleasda@bigpond.net.au
Kate Bowditch
Standards Australia Project Manager
Kate.Bowditch@standards.org.au
