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Individual Advocacy
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As the only advocacy organisation in Victoria dedicated to supporting disabled young people to achieve their human rights, YDAS takes these intersectional rights of young people very seriously.  
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Centering the rights of disabled young people

Our human rights focus means that we always strive to centre the voices, rights and safety of disabled young people, such as:

  • Their right to make – or have a say in – decisions which affect them
  • Their right to safety and freedom from abuse and neglect
  • Their right to privacy, dignity and confidentiality

 

Differing needs

YDAS understands that young people aged from 12-25 can have very different needs when it comes to involving their parents, families, carers and loved ones. 

Some young people prefer for us to work with their trusted family members, whereas others prefer not to have them involved.

We recognise how important parents and families are in the lives of young people. With a young person’s consent, we can work with families to help address a young person’s advocacy issue.

Consent

In the vast majority of circumstances, we need consent from the young person to provide advocacy support. However, we need a parent or guardian’s consent when:

  • The young person is aged 12-14
  • The young person is under 18 and does not currently have capacity to consent
  • The young person is over 18 and has a legal guardian
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We can only act as advocates for the young person.

We cannot advocate for parents or any other person. We cannot advocate for a young person who has capacity to consent who does not want our help.

If a young person does not have capacity to consent, YDAS may be able to assist on a best interests basis.

Before you contact YDAS Individual Advocacy

  • If you can, communicate with your young person first and explain why you think it would be good to get help from an advocate.
  • If this is not possible, we can still give you some guidance and advice.
  • Please do not share identifying information about your child’s situation (for example, health information, their name or school). We will let you know if we need this and provide a consent form.

After you contact us

  • If the information provided indicates your young person is eligible, we will send you a form to complete. Please give us as much information as possible on this form, it will help our Advocate give you the best information and guidance.
  • After we receive your completed form, we will set up a time for an online or phone Advocacy Support Meeting with one of our advocates
  • We strongly encourage your young person to attend this meeting too. Even just for a few minutes so we can check in with them
Individual Advocacy

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