Yacvic's Advocacy Among Youth: Types, Challenges And Strategies

As children and young people are usually shunned from society due to their ‘age’ and ‘lack of experience in the real world’, they are considered powerless as they don’t have much room to voice their opinions on the decisions that impact their livelihoods, nor do they have an input when the decisions that are made for them go against their best interests. This is where advocacy comes in, in which it is defined as ‘any action that speaks in favour of, recommends, argues for a cause, supports or defends, or pleads on the behalf of others’ (Alliance for Justice 2008, section one). The Youth Affairs Council Victoria (YacVic) is a reputable peak body recognised as the ‘leading advocate for young people aged 12-25 in Victoria’ (YacVic, n.d.). The organisation acts to deliver services such as efficient advocacy, training, resources and support for young people in Victoria and to ultimately help them find their voice.

Types of Advocacy

There are specific types of advocacy in which YacVic and other organisations specifically caters to when working with young people. Citizen advocacy is a community driven push that targets to acknowledge, endorse and preserve the rights, interests and well-being of people of all ages, with all types of disabilities (Queensland Advocacy Incorporated, n.d). YacVic advocates for citizens by acting as a helping hand or often at times, acting as a companion, especially to vulnerable individuals without family or friends who can advocate for them.

Parent advocacy, contrary to its term, doesn’t focus on advocating on behalf of the parents, but rather the young person with disability and their parent(s). It pays special attention to the needs of the young person, and the advocating is done by parent groups. YacVic has made a submission to the Royal Commission into the Victorian Mental Health System (Beyond Access) to address the needs of young people and their families living in rural and regional areas of Victoria, in regards to their mental health.

Group advocacy ‘involves people with shared experiences, positions or values coming together in groups to talk and listen to each other and speak up collectively about issues that are important to them’ (Social Care Institute for Excellence, 2015). When it comes to YacVic, they will work with other organisations to cater to the needs of groups, such as working with the LGBTQI community.

Lobbying ‘involves activities that are in direct support of, or opposition to, a specific piece of introduced or proposed legislation’ (American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry n.d. para. 6), such as YacVic collaborating with other peak bodies across Australia to join the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS), to raise the rate of Newstart and Youth Allowance, and ultimately allow young people from marginalised communities to ‘live with security and gain meaningful long-term employment’ (Youth Affairs Council Victoria, 2019).

Advocacy writing means to discuss one’s objectives and priorities that replicates a person’s voice in a manner that conveys the message efficiently and clearly (Express Strategies n.d). YacVic has worked in partnership with Youth Disability Advocacy Service (YDAS) to write a submission that advocates ‘for tenancy rights of people living in specialist disability accommodation to be protected under an amendment to the Residential Tenancies Act’ (Youth Affairs Council Victoria, 2017).

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Representation, Advocacy & Decision Making

Despite its similarity in definitions, representation and advocacy are vastly different to decision making on behalf of a client. Representation and advocacy focuses on supporting the client and encouraging them to speak up for themselves, rather than speaking for them. It allows for the young person to follow their own personal beliefs and choices, instead of depending too heavily on the advocate. YacVic assists in guiding young individuals to make their own decisions by providing them with resources and options, which can help them gain knowledge about the judgements they make and the results that follow. To do this, YacVic has implemented a ‘Young Thinker in Residence’ program which allows for two young people (aged 18-25) to speak about an issue that affects them which results in a ‘tangible outcome that positively impacts the issue they are thinking about’ (Youth Affairs Council Victoria, para. 4) and ultimately provides the support from YacVic as a part of policy or ‘practice advocacy’ (Youth Affairs Council Victoria, para. 4). This is in comparison to young people having the freedom to speak about these issues, though having no support or encouragement, due their age, to create change.

Individual Advocacy & Systems Advocacy

There are many types of advocating systems which represent the young person in a vulnerable state. Individual advocacy, agnate to its term, focuses on supporting the individual only to assist them in meeting their needs. System advocacy, on the other hand, focuses on supporting a whole group who are going through the same issues collectively. For example, if a young person expresses their need for transgender toilets at school, YacVic would represent the young person and assist them in finding other people at their school so that they can all collectively come together to encourage the school to install transgender toilets.

YacVic’s Challenges

YacVic advocates for many issues that are present in society which impacts a young person’s wellbeing. The challenges they tackle include, disability, mental health and wellbeing, environment, government and youth policy, media releases, youth participation, youth sector, NDIS, education, training and employment, youth justice, housing and homelessness, child protection, gender and sexuality, transport, family violence and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. When focusing on mental health and wellbeing, YacVic advocates for a push to have adequate mental health programs at school which can ultimately promote good mental health for all young people. Similarly, YacVic promotes child protection by working with Victoria Police and other government authorities to ensure the safety of young people from the ages of 12-25, by implementing strategies that these government officials can administer in their work training and ultimately uphold the safety of young people.

YacVic, Young People & The Community

YacVic works collaboratively with young people and the community in all aspects of their organisation as they believe their advocacy would be a lot stronger as a result (Youth Affairs Council Victoria, n.d). This is done through formal means such as their ‘Board of Governance’, where they discuss the strategic path of the organisation under its governance structure and includes four young people under the age of 26. YacVic has also provided opportunities for young individuals aged 16-25 to work with the VicHealth CEO, Dr Sandro Demaio, to discuss the topics of mental health, obesity and the overall health of young people in Victoria. These discussions are done through weekly assessment panels and are open to any young person from a diverse range of ages and experiences.

YacVic’s Advocacy Strategies

YacVic follows strategies to actively advocate and represent their clients efficiently. These principles involve: empowerment, in which they allow for ‘young people to have greater control over their lives through participation’ (Youth Affairs Council Victoria, n.d para. 3), purposeful engagement which is ‘young people taking on valued role, addressing issues that are relevant to them and influencing real outcomes’ (Youth Affairs Council Victoria n.d, para. 3) and inclusiveness which is ‘ensuring all young people are able to participate, regardless of background, culture, where they live, their gender or sexuality’ (Youth Affairs Council Victoria n.d para. 3).

YacVic & Social Media

Social Media has become very prevalent in everyday society, and while it does have some detrimental effects on young people, it has been a useful tool in marketing YacVic’s advocacy work. The webpage is very youth friendly, with easy-to-access hyperlinks and bright colours to promote how their advocacy can positively impact a young individual’s life. YacVic are also active on other social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram which are commonly used by youth and provide a visual reference of the work they do for young people.

Ultimately, YacVic upholds a holistic approach when advocating for young people by following their own established youth participation strategies. They consider the young person as their primary consideration and ensure their methods of advocating don’t diminish the young person’s capability to better their life their own way. Similarly their work is heavily promoted on all social media platforms to ensure that Victorian youth have access to their services and to demonstrate that without the assistance of young people, YacVic are unable to advocate for change and meet the needs of young people.

References

1. Redpath, M 2015, ‘Citizen Advocacy helps those with disabilities', Stittsville News; Nepean, Ont, 17 Feb p. 1, viewed 21 October 2019, ProQuest database.
2. Queensland Advocacy Incorporated, n.d., ‘Types of Advocacy’, Queensland Advocacy Incorporated, viewed 21 October 2019, < https://www.qai.org.au/systems-advocacy/types-of-advocacy/>.
3. Department of Health, 2004, ‘6.2 Why young people need advocacy’, Department of Health, accessed 30 October 2019 < https://www1.health.gov.au/internet/publications/publishing.nsf/Content/drugtreat-pubs-front2-wk-toc~drugtreat-pubs-front2-wk-secb~drugtreat-pubs-front2-wk-secb-6~drugtreat-pubs-front2-wk-secb-6-2>
4. Citizen Advocacy South Australia Inc., n.d, ‘What Will I Need to Do?’, Citizen Advocacy South Australia Inc. accessed 31 October 2019
5. Social Care Institute for Excellence, 2015, ‘Care Act 2014: Types of Advocacy’, Social Care Institute for Excellence, accessed 28 October 2019
6. American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, n.d. ‘Advocacy vs. Lobbying: What This Means for You and Your Regional Organisation’, accessed 28 October 2019
7. Express Strategies, n.d. ‘Advocacy Writing’ Express Strategies, accessed 28 October 2019 < http://www.express-strategies.com/advocacy-writing>
8. Fieldgrass L, 2017, ‘Concern about Victoria Police members' training in working with young people’ Youth Affairs Council Victoria, accessed 30 October 2019 < https://www.yacvic.org.au/advocacy/concern-about-your-members-training-to-work-with-young-people/>
9. Youth Affairs Council Victoria, 2017, ‘Shaping Youth Participation: The Young Thinker in Residence program’ Youth Affairs Council Victoria, accessed 2 November 2019
10. Youth Affairs Council Victoria, 2019, ‘Youth Peak Bodies Across Australia Call on the Government to Raise the Rate’ Youth Affairs Council Victoria, accessed 2 November 2019
11. Rawet E, 2017, ‘A Submission in response to the Rights in Specialist Disability Accommodation Consultation Paper as distributed by the Victorian Government’, Youth Affairs Council Victoria, accessed 2 November 2019
12. Youth Affairs Council Victoria, n.d, ‘A Youth Roundtable with VicHealth CEO Dr Sando Demaio’, Youth Affairs Council Victoria, accessed 3 November 2019
13. Rowan J, 2019, ‘Smashing the mental health stigma in our small towns’, Youth Affairs Council Victoria, accessed 3 November 2019 < https://www.yacvic.org.au/blog/smashing-the-mental-health-stigma-in-our-small-towns/>