#MakingTime makes a difference

We know it’s been pretty tough times for disability advocates lately. Advocates are kept busy, whether it’s:

– helping people with disability through the confusion and isolation of COVID lockdowns

– supporting people to share their stories with the Disability Royal Commission; or

– their ongoing work to defend the rights of people with disability to live their lives free of discrimination, exclusion, neglect, abuse, violence or exploitation.

"So for a disability advocacy organisation, how we've funded it, we all have a lot of time in rebalances sitting there, and other work has had to be put aside because the immediate crisis for people with disability has been so great." - El Gibbs, People with Disability Australia

There are "a lot of advocates who are just burning out and we are getting great, experienced staff who can't keep up with the workload and having the outlook on advocacy funding so poor, it is really difficult to keep people's spirits up and to keep them engaged in their work. I think disability advocates work extremely hard, but there is just not enough funding there..." - Senior Disability Advocate Fiona Dowling

Australians living with mental ill health, mental distress and those who care for them have told the National Mental Health Commission the one thing that has helped them through difficult moments is making time for what matters to them – whether this is time to connect with friends and loved ones, time for themselves, time to talk, time to connect with support and treatment, time to learn something new, time offline, time for a swim or simply time in nature.

Everyone’s experience is different, and so too is what helps us get through. What we make time for matters and can positively impact on our mental health. Find out more at: www.nmhcmakingtime.com.au/

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