Social advocacy and lobbying

Social advocacy and lobbying are recognised as part of a health professional's role. They are effective ways to work for public policy reform. Health professionals can:

There are a number of national and NT organisations which act to advocate for better health for the community. Some examples are:

Case study of advocacy and lobbying: Rally Against Grog

Below is an extract of a newspaper article. It demonstrates how community members can group together and advocate and lobby for issues they feel strongly about. This collective action can be used to gain media attention and put the issues onto the government's policy agenda.

Women in the Centre Rally Against Grog

In one of the largest rallies ever seen in Alice Springs, almost 400 Aboriginal women and children from Central Australian communities joined forces recently. With many of them in traditional dress, the women were protesting about alcohol abuse by their men and the extension of town-based drinking facilities in Alice Springs. The march was organised to give women a chance to be heard and put their side of the story. Elders from 16 of the communities marched behind women in a show of support for the women's actions.

Spokeswomen Rosemary Kunoth-Monks and Alison Hunt said that women bore the brunt of violence and other social problems associated with alcohol abuse, and had put up with it for long enough.

The Minister for Health and Community Services, Steve Hatton commented that the march was a positive move towards helping Aboriginal people to make their own decisions about dealing with alcohol abuse.

"The Government can provide all the support and money in the world, but unless Aboriginal people themselves make the commitment to beat the grog, and unless they make the important decisions as to how to go about it, our efforts are wasted." After the march, the women met with the Chief Minister, Marshall Perron, and other key Government officials.

The women asked for:

The closure of take-away liquor outlets
Suspension of plans for the Tangentyere Council to build licensed clubs for Aboriginals in Alice Springs
The closure of all liquor outlets on Sundays
Prohibition of liquor sales at Aboriginal sporting events
A flexible CDEP scheme which provided some work on all communities, thereby denying money to non-working drinkers
Access to the money used for grog be made more difficult for Aboriginal drinkers

… The march was a great success in getting across the women's point of view and led to a separate meeting between the elders and the NT Government…A council of traditional elders will be formed as a result of this meeting…Mr Perron will look at the requests coming out of both meetings in relation to today's liquor laws and discuss options for change with Aboriginal people directly.

Extracts from an article which appeared in 'Aboriginal News' (produced by the Office of Aboriginal Communications, Department of the Chief Minister) June 1990, Vol 6 (3):2-3

The Women's March, along with the report of the NT Legislative Assembly Sessional Committee on the Use and Abuse of Alcohol by the Community, were instrumental in prompting the Government to establish the Living with Alcohol Program.