Self Advocacy is a disability rights movement.
A rights movement is when people around the world work together to speak up about shared issues, take action and make change.
The Self Advocacy movement is led by and for people with disability.
Self Advocates with disability say:
Nothing about us without us!
People with disability should be in charge of decisions that affect their life and their community.
Self Advocacy Groups: are run by and for people with disability with something in common.
They work together to:
- Speak up and fight for disability rights issues to try make good changes for people with disability.
- Share their expert knowledge with government and the community
- Build each others self advocacy skills and knowledge
- Support each other
- Have a stronger voice together
Self Advocacy: A Proud History
1969
The first self advocacy groups started in Sweden. The members spoke up about how they wanted to be treated.
1972
Self advocacy groups started in Britain
1974
Self advocacy groups started in the United States
1980
The first self advocacy group in Australia opened its doors. The group was called Reinforce and it was run by and for people with intellectual disabilities.
1980s
New self advocacy groups were set up all around Australia. The groups had a strong and powerful voice. They spoke out about:
- Closing institutions
- The right to equality
- Freedom from abuse
- Rights in shelter workshops
- Changing community attitudes
1986
The People First Resource Unit was set up to resource and support self advocacy groups around Australia.
1990s
Sadly, many of the groups lost their funding and disappeared. The People First Resource Unit closed its doors.
2008
The Victorian Government funded the Self Advocacy Resource Unit (SARU). One of the jobs of the SARU is to help start new groups. With support from SARU the number of self advocacy groups in Victoria increased. However, today there are very few self advocacy groups left in the rest of Australia.
2018
There are now self advocacy groups around the world: in Britain, Canada, Poland, Germany, United States, Malaysia, New Zealand, Australia, Austria, Hong Kong and many more countries.
Why Self Advocacy Matters
Self advocacy groups have made real change happen! We work tirelessly with little or no funding to:
- Fight for real equality and to be fully included in the community
- Improve services and support them to do a better job
- Close institutions
- Speak up about the need for accessible information such as Plain English, Braille, audio recordings, and more.
- Advise government about the needs and rights of people with disabilities.
- Educate and change communities to ensure equal opportunities for all.
- Empower people to learn about their rights and to speak up for those rights.
