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Families for Change
Family Advocacy publishes a quarterly Journal Families for Change which focuses on issues of importance to people with developmental disability and their families.
The aim of the journal is to encourage and support families to speak out for and on behalf of their family member, but also advocate for broader change on behalf of people with a disability in general.
Some of the topics addressed in previous journals have been leisure, employment and individualised support.
Subscribe Now - Free for family members people with a developmental disability and people with a developmental disability. Otherwise a $20/year subscription applies.
Back Issues
Issue: 7 (Vol. 3) - Spring 2008
As human beings, we are continually placing a value on various objects, ideas or people. We often give value to or take value away without thinking deeply about it. This is the basis of Social Role Valorisation (SRV), a social science framework for understanding human relationships. SRV is often perceived as an academic concept but at its basis are ideas that we are all familiar with.
Issue: 6 (Vol. 3) - Winter 2008
This edition of Families for Change focuses on systems advocacy - advocacy aimed at the systems that impact on the lives of people with disability. Systems advocacy attempts to influence policy and legislation at the government and bureaucratic levels, as well as at the service delivery level.
Issue: 5 (Vol. 3) - Autumn 2008
As we look to the future for our sons and daughters with disability, the importance of a home of their own looms large. The concept of having your own place symbolises control over the important aspects of your life; it is only in their own ‘home’, that our sons and daughters can decide how they live, with whom they live, and what help they get in order to live a rich and valued life.
Issue: 4 (Vol. 3) - Summer 2007
The Odyssey...a Journey of Enrichment and Possibility. In October 2007, Family Advocacy hosted The Odyssey... a journey of enrichment and possibility, a conference which unashamedly considered and featured people, not programs. At this conference, the presenters talked about vision, creativity, courage, tenacity and love - ingredients that enable people to flourish and grow and live valued lives in their community. People with disability, their parents and allies, told their stories of how they have created a better life which is not dependent on the disability service system providing everything.
Issue: 3 (Vol. 3) - Spring 2007
Each person has their own unique path to traverse, and with the assistance of family and friends, can forge their own way to reach their own destination. The contributors to this Journal give their perspective on life, either from the viewpoint of a person with disability or as a person of significance in the life of a person with disability. All the stories have one thing in common - a belief that life should be and can be a journey of enrichment and possibility.
Issue: 2 (Vol. 3) - Winter 2007
The theme for this edition of Family Advocacy's journal is 'networking and connection' and the importance of these two elements in terms of what they can bring into a person's
life. Many benefits spring from the people we are connected to – some practical, others much more personal. The practical benefits can be as simple as having someone assist you perform a task, lend you something, drive you
somewhere. On a more personal level, having people in our lives makes us feel valued, secure, worthwhile…it
elicits a feeling of 'someone knows and cares about me and is interested in me'. Therefore building connections
with others is vital to the development of a sense of self worth, self esteem and simply feeling good about oneself...
Issue: 18 (Vol. 2) - Winter 2006
Unfamiliar Roads - At a time when the New South Wales Government's 10-year plan, promising over $1 billion dollars for more services, is being analysed and discussed, the question of how such long-awaited and much needed funding and commitment will be used in the future...
Issue: 16 (Vol. 2) - Spring 2005
Real People, Real Lives - The stories in this edition talk of the pleasures and the challenges of securing real lives for people with development disability...
Issue: 14 (Vol. 2) - Summer 2004
The road to an inclusive adulthood - investment needed now! This edition of the newsletter highlights what needs to happen if students with disabililty are going to be well educated in the regular classes of local high schools and have their expections of a good life realised when they leave school...
Issue: 12 (Vol. 2) - Summer 2004
All that glitters is not gold! In these times, it is rare to see a current affairs story about people with disability which doens't paint a negative picture - suffering, pitiful, afflicted, dependant and recievers rather than givers. How many people saw the 7.30 Report on ABC in October? Some people have said that the piece on an easier way for genetic differences to be identified even earlier in pregnancy stopped them in their tracks...
Issue: 11 (Vol. 2) - Spring 2003
Great Expections - “To tell you the truth, I didn’t really know what advocacy meant”. These words, spoken by a parent when first hearing of Family Advocacy, reflect the
fact that advocacy is not a word that pops up in general conversation.
When our son or daughter has a disability, however, we learn very quickly that
if things are going to happen in their best interests, we need to speak out
about what we believe those interests to be, even if it means taking action in
ways that we never expected. We discover the importance of influencing
people. We may not be familiar with the word, but to most families advocacy
becomes a part of our life because we discover the difference it can make in our
son or daughter’s life.
Issue: 09 (Vol. 3) - Summer 2002
A springboard to action - There are regular events in our social and political environment which can clearly act as springboards to important issues in the lives of citizens within the community. Elections are one of those regular events. Many social commentators over the past decade have highlighted that, as citizens, we are increasingly frustrated and cynical about the political system. Many people say that their perception and experience of the political system hardly represents what they consider to be real democracy. Despite this, however, social
activists and others who work towards a more just society know that they must continue to raise issues to the forefront of the minds of politicians, public servants, and members of the public. Elections are good springboards - they are a time once every four years when politicians care deeply about what their
constituents want...
Issue: 07 (Vol. 2) - Autumn 2002
Responding to Diversity - Australia is a country with a culturally diverse population. This cultural diversity is
reflected in families who have a son or daughter with a disability. Families from
culturally diverse backgrounds who have a family member with a disability, however,
often find themselves highly disadvantaged through services failing to take into
consideration their specific cultural needs, or through other forms of discrimination.
Why are families from culturally diverse backgrounds more likely to experience
additional barriers in their struggle to get their son or daughter’s needs met...