Advocacy at ActivOT

On Tuesday 17 November the Senate is scheduled to vote on a motion to disallow the National Disability Insurance Scheme (Support) Determination 2026. 

 

The determination cuts funding for social, economic and community participation supports by 50% and for improved daily living skills (including most therapy supports) by 10%. Hearing from their constituents helps, so we're asking each of you to write to your state's Senators to help advocate for a community you work with so closely and care deeply about.

 

The template for the email was kindly supplied by Muriel Cummins on behalf of OTSI. 

 

How to do it (about 15 minutes of your time):

 

1. Open the Word file for your state. There's one for each of NSW, VIC, QLD, SA and WA. Each file has a pre-addressed letter for all 12 of your state's Senators, with their email address at the top. We have linked the files for each state below. 

   • New South Wales Letter​

   • Queensland Letter

   • South Australia Letter

   • Victoria Letter

   • Western Australia Letter

   • Tasmania Letter

   • Australian Capital Territory Letter

   • Northern Territory Letter

2. Fill in every yellow-highlighted field: your name, suburb/state, your role (occupational therapist, allied health professional, NDIS participant, family member or carer), and your sign-off details. The phone number is optional.

3. Personalise the middle paragraph (3–5 sentences): This is the most important part, because a personal story is far more persuasive than a form letter. Keep the guidance that fits you (health professional or participant/family) and delete the other. Make sure to tell your story in a deidentified way to protect all participants. You can use the same details across all the letters. 

4. Remove the yellow highlighting.

5. Copy the subject line and body into an email and send it to each Senator. Please write to all senators in your state if you can, not just the ones from your preferred party or the ones you expect to agree with.

 

A few tips:

• Please send by 6 November 2017 so offices have time to respond before the vote.

• Send each Senator their own email rather than one email to everyone. Don't use BCC.

• Keep your tone respectful and focused on real-world impact on participants.