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Raising Our Voice – Speaking up for Social Justice 

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Around 100 members, volunteers, employees and friends of the St Vincent de Paul Society NSW joined the Rosalie Rendu Forum during Anti-Poverty Week on 16 October to discuss the importance of advocacy in making positive change for vulnerable members of our community. 
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Moderating the event, Geraldine Doogue reflected on the current state of the world – with so much war and political turmoil obscuring the deepening injustices closer to home including poverty, homelessness and domestic violence. She drew on the expertise of four justice advocates who have engaged in different types of advocacy for and with the people they assist. 
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Speaking of supporting people with lived experience of homelessness, Charmaine Jones of StreetCare spoke of the commitment of people who are homeless wanting to prevent others going through the same experience. With support, she says, “They offer a perspective that differs from many decision makers within Government and it leads to better outcomes, more accountability and better service delivery.” 
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Vinnies Member Jo Karaolis spoke of organising the Ku-Ring-Gai housing group, advocating for social and affordable housing in a part of Sydney resisting development. Jo says, “The housing crisis has been with us for a very long time… If we’d been providing leadership during this time we could have led housing reform. Good government comes down to good communities that care for each other locally and on the broader stage.” 
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Delia Donovan of Domestic Violence NSW spoke of political engagement to get much needed funding for services that are stretched beyond breaking point. Political engagement is about relationship building and bringing lived experience into the dialogue; “We need to know when to go hard and when not to go hard, because we need to be able to stay in the room and remain pragmatic, but also to be bold and brave. It’s a really fine balancing act”. 
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Dharag Elder and educator, Aunty Thelmerie Rudd spoke of how having a voice is fundamental to the dignity of all. We need a place where all voices are heard. In the face of ignorance and instances of racism, Aunty Thelmerie asks; “How can we create a space where we can all sit together, we can all talk, we can all yarn? … we need to look at issues and look for what we can advocate on for community and for kids in school.” 
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Geraldine asked the panelists about key learnings and advice when engaging in different kinds of advocacy. Some of the wisdom shared included the following: 
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Good advocacy with decision-makers is about building long-term relationships of equal partnership and is not primarily adversarial. 
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Learn from and form respectful connections with the people who disagree with you. 
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Engage with all sides of politics – not just the party in power. 
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Approach peak organisations who can lend advocacy support and follow up on decision-maker transparency and accountability. 
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Come to advocacy with suggested solutions, not just the problem. 
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Good solutions often ensure a “win win” for all sides. 
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Story telling is vital – people from the front line and people with lived experience are often the strongest advocates. 
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Thank you to Geraldine and our inspiring panelists Aunty Thelmerie, Delia, Jo and Charmaine. 
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