Advocacy - Ask a Pro Live with Bre August 29th 2019
Advocacy - Ask a Pro Live with Bre August 29th 2019
This month we are very excited to announce our Ask a Pro Live Event (formerly Infobus!) on the topic of Advocacy! It can be really difficult to advocate for yourself and for issues that are important to you, so let's explore this further in this month's Ask a Pro Live Event.
What is an Ask a Pro Live Event and how do I get involved?
Every month we run a live chat where special guests will come online to talk about a topic of importance in our community. This month our topic is Advocacy. You can submit questions ahead of time by filling in the form here or below, and join us live to see our guest's answers!
When are we talking about Advocacy?
Our guest Bre will be joining us on Thursday the 29th of August from 7pm-9pm (AEST)!
Get to know Bre
“Hi! My name is Bre and I’m the newest community manager on the forums and have worked in community services for five years. Before joining ReachOut I worked to support young people who have experienced disadvantage, to complete their education and career goals. As well as working with young people I have spent time supporting communities around Australia through a telephone crisis support service. These experiences have allowed me to understand how to access services, get referrals and advocate for oneself when needed.”
If you would like to get a notification 30 mins before we start the live discussion, high five this post! See you there!
Check out our community activities calendar for August 2019 here
@Bre-RO it is so true about making sure that you have the capacity to help, and that you keep the person you are advocating at the centre, let them guide you on what they need. It is not about leading, but walking beside them.
We are pretty close to wrapping up but we before we head off would you mind sharing some of the advocacy links you spoke about?
It's been really nice to spend some time here chatting and getting to know you all better 
I hope the discussion can continue over the coming days.
Here is a link to a website called AskIzzy - it's a wonderful site that uses your location to recommend support services near you. There are lots of categories you can search in (Health, Housing, Financial Assistance, counselling etc) and one of them is Advocacy. If you click on that and follow the questions it will tell you what is in your area.
Here is a link to a comprehensive list of all the disability advocacy groups in Australia.
Financial advocacy: Debt helpline number is 1800 007 007
Thank you so much @Bre-RO it has been so awesome to get to know you better and hear about your experience and your amazing insights and tips!
Thank you to everyone that participated
@ecla34 @WheresMySquishy @Hozzles @xXLexi_Lou122Xx
That's a wrap, can't wait to see how the discussion progresses over the next few days
@Bre-RO it's been awesome getting the chance to hear more about you and the amazing work that you have done/ continue to do! 😄
Those are some great resources @Bre-RO!
I've really loved learning some new things about advocacy through this discussion. 
I loved reading the chat replies!
But my question wasn’t answered...
What is advocacy?
// Nothing is impossible. The word itself says “I’m Possible” //
Hey @xXLexi_Lou122Xx - Happy you were able to read through the responses!
Thanks for bringing up your question as we weren't able to get through them all.
To answer your question..
Advocacy is a broad term. Simply put - Advocacy is an act that is undertaken by an individual or group on behalf of another individual or group. Usually the intent is to influence a beneficial outcome. There are also types of advocacy - self advocacy is when you advocate for yourself and individual advocacy is when someone else provides the advocacy.
Feel free to shoot through anymore questions you may have 🙂
Basically like teens standing up for the shooting at school in America?
Video is called March For Our Lives on Facebook.
// Nothing is impossible. The word itself says. “I’m Possible” //
@xXLexi_Lou122Xx Yes! Exactly - that's a great example of political advocacy. A group of people coming together to advocate on behalf of other citizens (and their own) safety.
What I suggest to keep in mind is to make sure the person you advocate is at the centre of the process. Ensure they understand what is happening and are an active participant in making decisions.
@Bre-RO that's such a good point!!! It seems like it could be pretty easy to have good intentions, but to end up accidentally talking over someone or making it harder for them to take back that control, is that something you've seen in the work you've done?
In other special discussions that we've had, that mentioned things like social justice, the discussion's often circled around to the importance of self-determination, which sounds like it applies here too. I really agree with you there @WheresMySquishy! 🙂
@ecla34 Absolutely! Everyone comes from different world views, so we all have different ideas and solutions. It can be hard for two people to work together for a common goal but as long as you can recognise what is going on you can take action.
I think that's a really good point @Bre-RO. Often, we can get too involved in what we think is right for someone, without actually taking the time to ask them what they think is right for themselves. They might have a different opinion, or their way of doing things might be working out for them, even if you feel like it's not something you would personally do.
@Bre-RO that does sounds really awesome, like putting some of the control back into the hands of people who've been shoved to the sidelines
@Bre-RO wow, it sounds like being informed, and knowing what support's out there to help you, both play a huge role in advocating for yourself and other people!
@ecla34 Knowing what support is out there is huge! I'll be posting some links later to sites that have search engines for advocacy services 🙂
Just managed to pop online and read your responses @Bre-RO!
Like others, I also like writing and travelling. Well done on getting published, and I hope you achieve your travelling goal! 
It's really admirable how you've used your past experiences to help others, and like others have said here it shows extreme empathy. You seem like a really dedicated person!
@Bre-RO thank you for sharing that, you are so right having those insights from lived experience can really help when you are advocating for others!
@Bre-RO I think it's really amazing that you've been able to use your past experiences to help other people. You've really had to work hard to achieve your dreams. Well done!
@ecla34 A bit chilly and really expensive haha so it's a bit of a challenge but that's the whole idea.
@Claire-RO Writing is such a great outlet! Journal writing as well is such a good way of letting go of stuff
