Our Program
Citizen Advocacy Launceston Region Inc was first established in 1989.
Citizen Advocacy facilitates the establishment of Citizen Advocacy relationships for people with intellectual disabilities who are vulnerable or at risk in the North and North East region of Tasmania.
This region encompasses the Launceston, Deloraine, Westbury, Georgetown, Scottsdale and St Helens areas.
The office has a small number of professional staff who are guided by a voluntary Board of Management.
The role of the staff is to identify people with a disability who are most in need of advocacy such as those experiencing social isolation or who may be at risk of neglect, abuse, loneliness and vulnerability.
They then establish and support one-to-one freely given relationships between suitable community members and that person in order to reduce this risk.
Citizen Advocates are not paid so as to be essentially free from any conflict of interest that may arise for or on behalf of the person with a disability. The Advocates are recruited and supported by the Citizen Advocacy office.
Citizen Advocacy is funded by the federal government, Department of Social Services (DSS) under the National Disability Advocacy Program (NDAP).
Citizen Advocacy has a number of programs throughout Australia and on a wider scale is an international movement for the rights and dignity of people with disabilities with well over 100 programs throughout the world.
Citizen Advocacy began in the U.S.A and Canada, and was developed by Dr. Wolf Wolfensberger in the 1960's in response to the concerns of parents who had family members with a disability who were asking the question "What will happen to my child when I am gone?" Their aim was to ensure that adequate protection and advocacy for their family member would be maintained. In Australia the first Citizen Advocacy program was established in Perth in 1980.
Citizen Advocacy Launceston have adopted the following objectives
To ensure participation by people with disabilities in the life of the community.
To promote self-reliance among people with a disability.
To open up opportunities for companionship and warmth between people with disabilities and other members of the community.
To provide a means through which the wishes and needs of people with a disability can be made known to the rest of the community.