General Advocacy

Our individual advocacy program represents people on a one-to-one basis to resolve their individual concerns.

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Our advocates will work with a person who has a disability, their family, guardian and/or significant associate in a way that supports their wishes in resolving issues.

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Our advocates never take over and make decisions for a person with a disability or decide what’s ‘best’ for them.

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They will not convince people with a disability that they should ‘make do’ with less than a person who does not have a disability.

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They don’t pretend problems don’t exist and they encourage and support people with a disability to do be empowered; to do what they can for themselves.

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The voice of our clients is at the core of all our services.

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This may involve advice about how to advocate for yourself or representing you via a phone call, a letter or support through legal proceedings such as tribunals and SACAT (SA Civil and Administrative Tribunal) hearings where appropriate. DRAS advocates provide the expertise to support people with a disability to attain their rights and to have a voice in decisions that affect their life.

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Other issues our advocates can help with include:

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• Education and schooling

• Housing 

• Equipment

• Support services

• Access to premises and programs

• Unfair treatment by businesses

• Centrelink matters

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Eligibility for Individual Advocacy

 

• You must have a disability.

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• You must live in South Australia in one of our service regions of Adelaide metropolitan area, Adelaide Hills and Murray Bridge, or South East SA and Coorong or Riverland.

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• You must have experienced discrimination, abuse or neglect.

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CENTRELINK APPEALS

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• DRAS supports a lot of people to appeal decisions by Centrelink that they think might be wrong. This could include eligibility for the DSP, debts and obligations to refuse to pay them the Disability Support Pension. Our advocates cannot do applications for Centrelink payments for you, but we can help you understand your rights and ensure that things are accessible. We may be able to help you understand processes or appeal any decisions you think are incorrect or unfair.​

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• If you have applied and been refused, as soon as possible, you should write on the letter you have received ‘I request a review of this rejection by an authorised review officer’. You need to sign it, date it and take a copy for yourself. Then take the letter to a Centrelink office and lodge it there. Make sure they give you a receipt for the letter or stamp the copy you have made for yourself. Or you can contact us and we will send you a form. Please see link – writing on the letter does work, but you can also do it in a variety of other ways.

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• If and when you receive another letter telling you that the decision has been refused, contact DRAS and we will provide further information. We may assign someone to assess your case and possibly to help you appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT).  For more information, you can head to our Resource page and search Disability Support Pension.