Consumer peak and representative bodies advocate for and provide the consumer voice. Advocacy is about promoting and influencing change. It is the process, or series of actions in which an individual or group speaks on behalf of a person to influence decision making, legal and policy initiatives so that change benefits people at all levels of society. On a personal level, advocacy is about promoting the needs, rights, interests, desires, opinions and engagement of people, however on the other end of the spectrum, systematic advocacy is about influencing change in decision making, legal and policy-making structures within political, economic and social systems and institutions in society so that they are altered to the needs and aspirations of people.
Consumers may advocate for and represent the consumer voice on:
- Management Committees
- Boards & Decision making bodies
- Steering Committees
- Consultations
- Working Groups
- Tender select panels
- Staff Selection Panels
- Research
- Evaluation Processes
Consumer Peak Bodies
A mental health peak body is an advocacy group that acts on behalf of members to lobby the ‘consumer voice’ of mental health consumers and the people that ‘care’ for them.
Consumer Representative Bodies
A consumer representative is a type of advocate who voices the consumer perspective and takes part in the decision making process on behalf of consumers. A consumer representative is usually nominated by, and is accountable to, an organisation of consumers.
Consumer representative bodies include:
- Consumers Health Forum of Australia (CHF) is the peak organisation providing leadership in representing the interests of Australian healthcare consumers.
- Health Consumers NSW: an advocacy body that provides an independent voice to advocate for patients, carers, their families and health consumers in the NSW health system.
- Consumers Health Forum of Australia: is the peak organisation providing leadership in representing the interests of Australian healthcare consumers.
- The ACT Mental Health Consumer Network: an advocacy focused organisation that aims to improve mental health services by providing systemic advocacy through regular consumer forums and consultative mechanisms to share information and identify common policy themes.
- The Victorian Mental Illness Awareness Council (VMIAC): an advocacy body in service delivery, peer support and consumer research.
