SIDE BY SIDE ADVOCACYsidebyside.org.au/.../Annual-General-Report-2019-2020.docx · Web viewSIDE BY SIDE. ADVOCACY. ANNUAL REPORT. 2019-2020. Side By Side Advocacy Incorporated

SIDE BY SIDE ADVOCACY ANNUAL REPORT

2019-2020Side By Side Advocacy Incorporated

Shop 1, 30-32 Herbert Street West Ryde NSW 2122Reg. Charity: Cc28451 ABN: 83 395 894 577

www.sidebysideadvocacy.org.au

VISIONWe envisage a word where people with disability are

equal and valued:Where diversity is celebrated, needs are fulfilled

and opportunities realised.

Side By Side Advocacy Incorporated Annual General Report 2019-2020

CONTENTS

1. Vision page 1

2. Statement of Purpose page 2

3. Values page 3

4. About Side By Side Advocacy page 4

5. Citizen Advocacy page 5

6. Individual Advocacy page 5

7. Appeals Support at the AAT page 5

8. Disability Royal Commission page 6

9. Chair Person’s Report page 7

10. Committee of Management – The Board page 11

11. Snap Shot of 2019 -2020 page 13

12. Staff of Side By Side Advocacy page 16

13. Financial Reports page 18

14. Acknowledgements page 27

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STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

Side By Side Advocacy promotes and upholds the rights, needs and interests of people with disability to enable full and meaningful

participation in the community.


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STATEMENT OF VALUES

1. Each person’s life is of equal and inherent value and worth.

2. People with disability have the right to advocacy and to protection from devaluation, neglect, abuse and the denial of human rights.

3. People with disability have the right to be treated as individuals, and not in terms of their disability.

4. All people are entitled to comprehensive and appropriate support to ensure full inclusion into the community.

5. All people have the right to make decisions about their own lives.

6. All people should be treated with dignity and respect.

7. All people have the right to be safe, valued and accepted.

8. All people have the potential to grow and develop and should be provided with opportunities.

9. All people regardless of gender, age, ethnicity, sexuality or religion have the same human and legal rights.

10. People with disability are to be treated in accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.


ABOUT SIDE BY SIDE ADVOCACY

Side By Side Advocacy Incorporated is a community based, not-for-profit organisation with the status of a charity. We are located at Shop 1, 30 - 32 Herbert Street, West Ryde. We promote and uphold the rights, needs and interests of people with intellectual disability. We do this through advocacy. A voluntary management committee, known in the organisation as “the Board”, is responsible for the governance of the organisation. Our six members of staff, led by the Executive Officer, deliver two distinct advocacy programs, being individual advocacy and citizen advocacy. We are also now able to offer Appeals Support to the AAT, and support to people who wish to make a submission to the Disability Royal Commission.

Side By Side Advocacy originated as Citizen Advocacy Ryde-Hunter’s Hill (CARHH) and our citizen advocacy program continues to operate in the local government areas of Ryde and Hunter’s Hill. In 1989 a steering committee was established to investigate the feasibility of setting up a citizen advocacy program to address the unmet needs of people with intellectual disability living in the Ryde and Hunter’s Hill local government areas. One of the driving forces of the steering was John Roarty, a resident of Weemala. He wrote forcefully about his experience of being institutionalised in his book Captives of Care. The steering committee was successful and the association, known as Citizen Advocacy Ryde Hunter’s Hill was incorporated in 1991.

In 2006 the constitution of CARHH was changed to enable the organisation to add a second model of advocacy. This form of advocacy is called Individual Advocacy and is delivered by members of staff, whom we call advocates. In 2006 we also changed our name to Side By Side Advocacy. Our name is significant on a number of levels. It is indicative of the structure of our organisation in that we have two distinct advocacy models working side by side. It is also reflective of our advocacy style as we work side by side with the people for whom we are advocating.

The Citizen Advocacy Program is offered in the Ryde and Hunter’s Hill local government areas. Our Individual Advocacy Program is available to people with intellectual disability who reside in the local government areas of Hornsby, Hunter’s Hill, Lane Cove, Mosman, North Sydney, Ryde, Willoughby and Northern Beaches Council. There is no cost to people who receive assistance from Side By Side Advocacy.

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CITIZEN ADVOCACY

The Citizen Advocacy movement originated in the USA in the 1970s and follows the principles of social role valorisation (SRV) developed by Dr Wolf Wolfensberger (1972). SRV recognises each individual’s role as a valued member of society rather than categorising people because of their disability.

Our Citizen Advocacy program is available to people with intellectual disability in the Ryde and Hunter’s Hill local government areas. Our Citizen Advocacy Coordinator finds vulnerable members of the community whose needs are not being met and recruits them into the Citizen Advocacy program. We call each person recruited a protégé. The protégé is then matched with a caring, proactive person in the general community who becomes a citizen advocate. Together the protégé and the citizen advocate form a citizen advocacy match – a one to one freely given relationship that may last for many years. The function of Side By Side Advocacy is to make and support the match between a person with unmet needs and a caring person in the community, who freely gives their time in an unpaid capacity.

INDIVIDUAL ADVOCACY

Individual Advocacy is provided by our experienced and qualified staff and focuses on the rights, needs and interests of our clients. Individual advocacy assists eligible people with one to one support when they are facing challenging situations, dealing with uncertainty or being treated unfairly. Some examples include: problems at work, home or with neighbours; dealing with government departments; accessing educational opportunities; negotiating and navigating Guardianship, Public Trustee matters and more recently, NDIS issues.

Priority is given according to the relative need of the person. Considerations include factors such as physical and emotional harm, homelessness, incarceration, hunger, poverty, and vulnerability. Individual Advocacy is without cost and is available to people with intellectual disability that live in the council areas of Hornsby, Hunter’s Hill, Lane Cove, Mosman, North Sydney, Ryde, Willoughby and Northern Beaches.

APPEALS SUPPORT AT THE AAT

National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Appeals has been set up to ensure that people with disability have access to support when seeking a review of decisions made by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT). Appeals Support is provided by our Appeals Support Officer (ASO) to ensure that the best possible case is presented to the AAT.

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This support role includes: explaining the review process, including what is involved in appealing to the AAT; helping to prepare documents; providing advice and skills so appellants can better represent themselves; attending AAT conferences and hearings to help appellants put their case to the AAT; referring to Legal Aid Commission where appropriate. Side By Side Advocacy provides this NDIS Appeals support across Greater Sydney.

SUPPORT AT THE DISABILTY ROYAL COMMISSION

The Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Exploitation and Neglect of People with Disability was established in April 2019 and will run for three years. It is also known as the Disability Royal Commission. The Disability Royal Commission started because of community concerns that people with disability are more likely to experience violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation than people without disability.

The Disability Royal Commission wants to hear from people with disability about their experiences and about how things can be improved.

Side By Side Advocacy is one organisation helping people with disability share their experiences with the Disability Royal Commission. If people have a story they want to share, Side By Side Advocacy helps them to: learn more about what the Disability Royal Commission is doing; decide if they want to share their experience; plan the best way to share their story; provides support to contact the Disability Royal Commission in a way that suits; provides information about organisations where other kinds of support such as counselling can be sought.

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CHAIRPERSON The year that was has been one like no other – and not in a good way. When I look back on the year I am quite overwhelmed by the magnitude of the challenges that we had to face. Many months were spent worrying and wondering if and how we would get through. I am also hit by a sense of pride and satisfaction because of the way Side By Side Advocacy navigated its way through these uncertain times, with no disruption to our advocacy. A bit like a duck. On the surface the organisation presented in a calm and unruffled way, but below the surface we were paddling like crazy.

The year started like any other – and the Board of Side By Side Advocacy continued with diligence to maintain the good governance of the organisation, and to ensure compliance with the obligations of our funding agreements. The amount of time we spend on compliance seems to be increasing and it takes up more and more of our effort and energy – things like Risk Management, Continuous Improvement and the ongoing review of Policies and Procedures. Who knew these things would become so relevant and vital in the year of a worldwide pandemic?

Thanks to the dedication of Side By Side Advocacy’s members, we have also been able do extra activities and to be proactive in investigating ways of growing and improving the organisation. Examples include the annual cocktail party in December to celebrate International Day of People with Disability; hosting students from Macquarie University’s PACE Program; and the submission of an application for a Community Inclusion and Capacity Building Grant from the NDIS.

In September 2019, Side By Side Advocacy was asked to consider accepting funding to provide support to people wishing to make a submission to the Disability Royal Commission. Such a significant and important opportunity was exciting for the organisation, and was also reflective of the reputation and high regard in which the organisation is held in the community. However, the project also came with risks and challenges to be managed carefully. The Board deliberated and in November agreed to take on the project, undertaking to prioritise people with the greatest need, and to ensure that the whole organisation was equipped to deliver the project in a trauma informed way.

Of huge impact to the organisation was the passing of Gary Goodship in January 2020. Gary had been the Executive Officer of Side By Side Advocacy for eleven years. He was a passionate voice for social justice and his commitment to advocating for people with disability and to Side By Side Advocacy was unwavering. While Gary had a long and defiant battle with ill health over the last six years, his death was sudden and unexpected. Gary was a kind, generous and supportive person, and his passing had a big emotional impact on the staff. We held a memorial service for Gary in

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February 2020 to give staff, clients and program participants an opportunity of paying their respects to our friend, colleague and advocate.Gary’s passing also had a big impact on the operations of the Side By Side Advocacy. Both the Board and Gary were aware that one of the biggest risks to the organisation was Gary’s ongoing health challenge. As part of our risk management plan, we had put in place strategies to be enacted should Gary experience a major health crisis, hoping that it would never come to pass. When the worst happened, we executed our pre-planning. Senior Individual Advocate, Preeti Thadani, stepped up in February to become Acting Office Manager and I was engaged to fulfil Executive Officer duties on a part time basis. I would like thank Preeti for the calm and diligent way in which she added this role to her responsibilities. Preeti was pivotal in ensuring the smooth running of the organisation and her integrity and dedication to the Values and Purpose of Side By Side Advocacy is unwavering.

Wearing two hats at Side By Side Advocacy was certainly not ideal. My life is full and busy and taking on anything extra was not what I’d planned for 2020. I hoped that this would be quite a short term role and that Side By Side Advocacy would be able to quickly recruit a new Executive Officer. Meanwhile there were things to get on with – neglect, abuse, discrimination and exclusion don’t go away just because you have challenges of your own, and the organisation could not and did not take its “eye off the ball”. At this difficult time the staff were kind, supportive, flexible and cooperative. Side By Side Advocacy was able to operate “business as usual” to promote and uphold the rights, needs and interests of people with intellectual disability. During this time, Cathy Milne kindly agreed to move to the Disability Royal Commission Project and increased her work days to five days per week. Cathy was the perfect fit for the project as she has the skills, passion and experience needed. This of course meant that Side By Side Advocacy needed to recruit someone to take on Cathy’s role during her secondment. And then Covid-19 hit and the world turned upside down.

The initial stages of the pandemic were obviously trying for everyone. At Side By Side Advocacy each member of staff had personal circumstances and barriers to overcome – and each person responded in their own way to the best of their ability. In spite of uncertainty, misinformation and unfolding and ever changing advice from authorities, the Board of Side By Side Advocacy was able to quickly put in place strategies that enabled staff to keep working safely while continuing to make advocacy available. This was a mammoth undertaking and I cannot commend the Board members enough for the thoughtful, responsive and responsible way in which they facilitated the emergency, and the longer term strategies to manage Side By Side Advocacy’s response to the Covid Crisis. We were always mindful of the greater risk to vulnerable people in times of crisis, and ensuring that our advocacy could be delivered in a robust, relevant and accessible way was at the forefront of our planning throughout.

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Some things worked in our favour at this time. We had already made an operational IT decision to move to Office 365 which made remote access possible. We engaged Steve MacDonald, a previous member of the Board, to assist with the practicalities of setting up the technology to enable staff to work from home as needed. As we moved early on this decision we were fortunate to be able to source the hardware while it was still available. Steve’s work at this time was invaluable – and his dedication continues as he re-joined the Board in May. We put in place many other controls to protect staff and to ensure that Side By Side Advocacy’s office could remain open and that our advocacy would remain available to our clients and program participants.

Like the rest of the world, Side By Side Advocacy embraced conducting meetings remotely – the Board included. While this is not strictly in accordance with our Constitution, we had the approval in theory from the Department of Fair Trading to do so in response to the pandemic. At the 2020 AGM we will seek to make a change to the Constitution of Side By Side Advocacy that will officially ratify remote attendance at meetings, as a risk management strategy for our members and the organisation.

Citizen Advocacy Coordinator, Deb Maio, and Appeals Support Officer, Nabil Mohammad, have certainly been making use of remote access meetings. Hearings at the AAT have continued remotely. In spite of the challenges for all concerned, thorough preparation has seen Nabil repeatedly produce favourable results. Through her tenacity and commitment, Deb has been able to maintain and build relationships with Citizen Advocacy program participants, without the benefits of face to face meetings.

We received exciting news in April. Our application for a Community Inclusion and Capacity Building Grant was successful, thanks mainly to the astounding contribution of Board Member, Michelle Donelly. The Inclusive Governance Project will run from 6th April 2020, with the final report due on 31st March 2023. The accommodation that we negotiated with City of Ryde for the Disability Royal Commission Project was more than adequate to accommodate this project, and so recruitment for another member of staff began. We had previously identified the need for a new website, a greater social media presence, a data base for the purpose of record keeping and reporting, and better printing facilities. With two new projects up and running, the urgency for these improvements was heightened and we are currently working towards these changes.

We have been very busy with recruitment having had three roles to fill. We were very pleased to welcome Tina Huang to the position of Individual Advocate in April. Tina is energetic and enthusiastic and has hit the ground running. After an extensive and somewhat arduous interview process we were pleased to announce the appointment of Kim Roots as Executive Officer. Kim has a long history in the advocacy sector and her role commences in July. We understand that this may be a

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difficult position to come into, given the circumstances of the vacancy. The recruitment for the Inclusive Governance Officer has similarly been successful and we are also looking forward to Bernadette Curryer joining us in July.

I would like to finish by thanking and commending my fellow Board members. It goes without saying that all are talented and committed people who give generously of their time, skill and life experience. This year has been remarkable. We have had to make some very difficult decisions, we’ve gone outside our comfort zones and, thankfully, we haven’t always agreed. But what unites us is our commitment to the rights, needs and interests of people with intellectual disability, our ability to put the interests of the organisation above our own, and the willingness of members to robustly give their opinion and respectfully listen and respond to the position of others. I am honoured to be a member of this group, and proud of what we have been able to maintain and achieve this year.

This year ends with Side By Side Advocacy in a strong financial position, fully staffed and with two new projects underway. No days or jobs were lost because of Covid-19 and we have demonstrated that Side By Side Advocacy has the strength and flexibly to respond in the face of adversity. Side By Side Advocacy is a Covid Safe registered workplace, and stands willing and able to continue to strive for a world where people with disability are equal and valued; where diversity is celebrated, needs fulfilled and opportunities realized.

Coralie JensenChairBoard of Management - Side By Side Advocacy

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COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT – THE BOARD

CHAIRPERSON – CORALIE JENSEN

Coralie has a background in education and a passion for inclusion and social justice for people with disability. As a mother and carer of a person with disability, she gained firsthand knowledge and experience in advocacy. After eleven years as a volunteer to the organisation, Coralie joined the Committee of Management in 2003, and has served in the position of chairperson since 2007. Coralie has been deeply involved in the organisation of our events, quality assurance and in promoting and lobbying for the organisation and disability issues in general. Coralie continues her dedication to Side By Side Advocacy, as a living memorial to her son Finley who passed away in 2012.

VICE CHAIRPERSON – FIONA GIVEN

Fiona joined the board of Side By Side Advocacy in November 2013. Since graduating from Macquarie University in 2004 in Arts Law, she has worked in a range of legal settings including as a paralegal and solicitor with the Crown Solicitors Office, and as a policy officer with the Australian Centre for Disability Law. She is currently a part time member of the Guardianship Division of the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal. Fiona is passionate about protecting the rights of people with disability. Fiona is also a member of the board of Assistive Technology Australia.

TREASURER – MICHAEL SLINN

Michael is a professional accountant. Without Michael and his commitment we would be poorer in many senses. Michael gives many hours to Side By Side Advocacy and is also active in other organisations, using his skills to help build better lives for people with disability and those who are disadvantaged. Michael and his wife live at Bullaburra in the Blue Mountains and have two children, two grandchildren, and two foster grandchildren.

SECRETARY – RUTH PERRAM

Ruth has a background in psychology and education. She retired in 2013 after a twenty-two year career as a high school teacher. Ruth has a strong sense of community and speaks up and out on various issues when she feels that justice is not being served. She is the mother of three adult daughters, and the proud grandmother to three granddaughters Ruth loves travel and lives in Eastwood with her husband. Ruth was elected to the Board in 2013 and became secretary in 2014.

MEMBER – MICHELLE DONELLY

Michelle is one of the founding members of Citizen Advocacy Ryde-Hunter’s Hill and has been actively involved in the organisation for over twenty years. Michelle

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ensures that people with disability are included as valuable members of society. She has an academic, professional and personal commitment to educating people about disability. Michelle has provided extensive SRV oriented training and assistance to staff.

MEMBER – ANGELA TALARICO

Angela was born in Italy and has lived in Australia for over fifty years. She is the proud mother of four adult sons and has eight beautiful grandchildren. Angela has lived experience of disability as her youngest son has Down Syndrome. He is in his late thirties and lives in a L'Arche Community. Angela initially joined Side By Side Advocacy to provide board support. After a year in this role she became a full board member. Angela is passionate about people with disability living “a good life”.

MEMBER – NICCI LINDEMANN GILMOUR

Nicci was born in London but spent her early childhood in Australia - which she has called home for the past twenty years. She is passionate about supporting people living with disability. She was previously the General Manager of a radio station for people with disability, and has held board positions with L'Arche Sydney, and with Radio for the Print Handicapped Australia. Nicci brings to the board of Side By Side Advocacy a long experience in working closely with people with disability, a strong sense of justice, and a passion for advocacy.

MEMBER – STEPHEN MACDONALD

Steve is originally from the UK and has lived and worked in Australia since 2004. He has twenty years’ experience in various IT roles, including technical support, training and project management. Steve’s association with Side By Side Advocacy began in February 2008, when he answered a request for pro bono IT support. Steve first joined the Board in 2014. From 2014 -2017 Steve served as vice chair. Steve left Sydney in 2017 and so did not renominate. Now settled back in Sydney, Steve re-joined the Board in May 2020. Steve is the devoted father of a daughter who attends primary school.

LIFE MEMBER – GEORGE GRAY

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George is our only life member having served on the Board of Management for ten consecutive terms. He is a fine speechmaker and a consummate networker and has wide social contacts over the northern Sydney area. George lives in the Ryde area.

SNAP SHOT OF 2019 -2020

Citizen Advocacy

There are sixteen Advocacy Relationships on the Citizen Advocacy program at Side By Side Advocacy. Despite the extra strains and demands created by Covid-19 during the 2019-2020 year, Citizen Advocates at Side By Side Advocacy have continued to provide quality advocacy on behalf of their protégés. Some issues addressed are noted below.

Protecting the interests of a protégé who was threatened with exit from his long term accommodation due to the death of his co-resident and the subsequent cost of maintaining accommodation. His Citizen Advocate was able to prevent his eviction and negotiate alternative, acceptable accommodation for her protégé.

Advocating with a difficult accommodation service for better safety decisions for a protégé. This involved addressing issues such as staffing and access so that her protégé was best protected during Covid-19.

Putting in place measures to protect a protégé from negative assumptions about her needs after a dementia diagnosis.

There is also ongoing, unpaid care and a focus on the needs of their protégés by all Citizen Advocates.

These advocacy efforts have made a considerable contribution to the life of each person with disability involved. They have kept people safe and added a nuanced understanding to what makes life good for a person with disability that would have otherwise been absent.

Individual Advocacy

The Individual Advocacy Team experienced another busy period in 2019 - 2020. As always, the focus was on supporting people with intellectual disability to have their rights, needs and interests met. Clients presented with a range of complex and multifaceted issues. The team provided high quality advocacy support, dealing with 107 cases with an average of eighteen advocacy sessions for each client.

Some recurring issues included: matters relating to support coordination – including support coordinators not

acting in accordance with the instructions of a person with intellectual disability and/or not fulfilling the expectations of the support coordinator role in any way

cases involving The Public Trustee13


fraud and/or wrongdoing by service providers difficulties with accommodation, including landlords failing to make necessary

repairs.

Covid-19 impacted on the work of the Individual Advocacy team, with client interactions needing to take place in a safe, socially distanced way. There were also issues impacting on people with disability specific to the pandemic. It was the experience of the Individual Advocacy team that information from official sources was not disseminated in a manner appropriate for all people with disability. This resulted in heightened anxiety for many. For example, one client misinterpreted information about the risk of contracting Covid-19 to mean that his death was imminent. A member of the Individual Advocacy team responded by providing appropriate information at regular intervals to ensure that the person took precautions relating to the pandemic but did not suffer from unnecessary anxiety.

Disability Royal Commission Support

In April 2019, the Government responded to the call to address the disproportionate rates at which people with disability experience violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation by calling a Royal Commission. The terms of reference for the Commissioners are broad, empowering them to investigate and report on mistreatment and abuse of people with disability wherever it may have occurred. This includes institutional settings such as disability or health services, but also domestic settings such as the family home or more broadly within the community.

Additional counselling, advocacy and legal supports have been funded to support people affected by the Disability Royal Commission. This means that these supports are available not only for people who have decided they want to make a submission to the Commission but also for people with disability who have experienced or are currently experiencing violence, abuse, neglect or exploitation. For some people, the Disability Royal Commission is the opportunity they have been waiting for to have their story heard. For others, it has brought mixed feelings representing both an opportunity and also serving as a reminder of the historical wrongs they have experienced.

In the six months from January to June 2020 the Disability Royal Commission Individual Advocate:

conducted forty-seven advocacy sessions for people affected by the Disability Royal Commission

has been in conversation with eight people, including three former or current Citizen Advocacy participants around how they may engage with the Disability Royal Commission.

During the course of Disability Royal Commission, the following were among the advocacy needs addressed:

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tenancy disputes and homelessness accessing mental health services accessing the National Disability Insurance Scheme safety planning and obtaining Apprehended Violence Orders dealing with Centrelink ‘robodebts’.

National Disability Insurance Scheme Appeals

The National Disability Insurance Scheme Appeals Support Project at Side By Side Advocacy provides support to people with disability seeking review of National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) decisions.

The Project has had another year of providing positive outcomes for clients. In the last financial year, there were approximately 3200 interactions with clients and many clients were successful in their appeals meaning they got the support they needed.

Along with the positives, there was a need to deal with substantial challenges. An array of challenges were presented by Covid-19 during the period. Interactions have taken place in a socially distanced way with Tribunal hearings happening remotely. Most interactions have been over the phone or via Microsoft Teams.

This lack of face to face interaction resulted in some instances of heightened client anxiety and provided challenges in developing rapport. As a result, more time was required with each client to ensure all relevant information was elicited and trust built. Covid-19 may have reduced the face to face interactions with clients but it has not reduced the time commitment. This time was well spent with clients expressing satisfaction with the support they received from Side By Side Advocacy.

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STAFF

EXECUTIVE OFFICER – GARY GOODSHIP (UNTIL JANUARY 2020)

Gary joined Side By Side Advocacy in November of 2008 after a number of years working in senior roles within service provision for people with disability, across Greater Sydney. Gary had a passion for seeking social justice for people living with intellectual disability and was a dedicated advocate.

CITIZEN ADVOCACY COORDINATOR – DEB MAIO

Deb joined Side By Side Advocacy in May 2013. Her experience in disability is as a parent, guardian and professional. She has worked in both Individual Advocacy and in Citizen Advocacy and spent many years in the education sector working to provide equal access to mainstream education for students with disability. Deb values the opportunity to support advocates to speak up for people with disability’s right to a full and inclusive life in their community.

SENIOR INDIVIDUAL ADVOCATE – PREETI THADANI

Preeti joined the Board of Management in 2015. She has an extensive work background in Dispute Resolution. After resigning from the Board, Preeti commenced working as an Individual Advocate in March 2017. She is passionate about the protection and promotion of human rights and is committed to giving people with disabilities a ‘fair go’. She has assisted other organisations and worked to help improve circumstances for disadvantaged people from CALD backgrounds. Preeti and her family have lived locally since 1979.

INDIVIDUAL ADVOCATE – DISABILITY ROYAL COMMISSION

CATHY MILNE

Cathy joined Side By Side Advocacy in November 2018, having worked with people with disability, chronic illness and older people for many years at large and small community organisations. Her passion has always been advocacy, so was excited to join an organisation that has a citizen advocacy program running alongside individual advocacy.

INDIVIDUAL ADVOCATE – TINA HUANG

Tina Huang commenced at Side By Side Advocacy in April 2020 as an Individual Advocate. Prior to joining Side By Side Advocacy, Tina worked in roles in the tenancy

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and housing sector. Tina is currently completing a Bachelor of Arts (Gender Studies) / Bachelor of Laws from the University of Sydney. Tina is passionate about supporting the rights, needs and interests of people with disability.

APPEALS SUPPORT OFFICER – NABIL MOHAMMAD

Nabil joined Side By Side Advocacy in December 2017. He has worked previously as an Individual Advocate and is currently the Appeals Support Officer. Nabil has extensive experience in the Legal Industry and has been admitted as a lawyer in the state of New South Wales. He is passionate about ensuring clients are afforded

procedural fairness and receive equitable outcomes.

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FINANCIAL REPORTS

2019 -2020

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Side By Side Advocacy Incorporated gratefully acknowledges

the support of the Australian Government throughthe Department of Social Services (DSS)

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Documents

SIDE BY SIDE ADVOCACYsidebyside.org.au/.../Annual-General-Report-2019-2020.docx · Web viewSIDE BY SIDE. ADVOCACY. ANNUAL REPORT. 2019-2020. Side By Side Advocacy Incorporated