A Guide to Getting Started with Advocacy

Note that some advocacy can be undertaken on individuals, organisations, professional associations, and others.

If you wish to partner with PHAA or AHPA and undertake advocacy on behalf of these Associations, contact them directly.

What is Advocacy?

Advocacy takes many forms, but the aim is always to influence policy.

Key components of advocacy include a call to action, e.g. specific requests or asks for action, evidence-based arguments supporting the key asks, and offering solutions.

This resource focuses on advocacy submissions because submissions are one of the main advocacy activities contributed to by members of AHPA and PHAA.

Finding Open Consultations (Calls for Advocacy Submissions)

Check your email inbox for lists of open consultations (at both National and State/Territory levels) provided by:

• PHAA The Pump newsletter (every Thursday) under the heading ‘Submissions on our radar’
• AHPA National Update monthly bulletin under the heading ‘Advocacy Opportunities’

The lists of advocacy opportunities compiled by PHAA and AHPA are sourced from many websites that post open consultations.

Here is a list of the government websites with open consultations:

How to Contribute to an Advocacy Submission for an Open Consultation  

Choose a topic(s) you have knowledge and/or experience in

Expression of your interest
For national submissions, contact [email protected] (PHAA) or [email protected] (AHPA) to express your interest in contributing.
For state/territory submissions, contact your local branch.

Before you start writing
You can look at completed submissions to familiarise with its structure and types of evidence included - keep in mind that submissions can be written with multiple people. A good way to start is to shadow more experienced members who are working on a submission to see the process of preparing an advocacy letter or submission.
    

PHAA’s completed advocacy submissions (you can also access a list of recently completed submissions from PHAA’s weekly The Pump newsletter) 
AHPA’s completed advocacy submissions

Timeframes and Content for Effective Submissions  

Consultations are often only open for a short period. The timeframe for open consultations can range from a few weeks to a couple of months. 

A common mistake is to just write unstructured thoughts and recommendations you have on the topic. 

The link provided for an open consultation will have a list of questions called Terms of Reference, providing the specific areas the consultation is focused on.

Effective submissions are structured as responses to Terms of Reference.  

Do not use combative/confrontational language. Focus on what is needed and the evidence for this.

Writing within your Area of Expertise 

It is important to contribute to topics that you have knowledge of. This can be topics you have done projects on, have researched in, or lived experience. 

It is also important to only respond to the Terms of Reference that you have knowledge or expertise in. It is OK to not provide a response to all Terms of Reference. 

It is a good idea to write about the work that other organisations have done for Terms of Reference that are not your area of expertise (e.g. work by NACCHO). 

Submissions that provide a strong response to some Terms of Reference will be more influential than submissions that respond to all Terms of Reference, but have uncertain or weaker responses to some Terms of Reference. 

Tips for Contributing to an Advocacy Submission 

All advocacy opportunities are reviewed by the PHAA policy team or AHPA President (National or Branch) to ensure alignment with the Association’s strategic priorities and a decision, based on a number of factors, is made regarding whether to proceed or not.  

1. Begin with an outline that is based on the format of previous PHAA or AHPA advocacy submissions. There is introductory text included in all advocacy submissions. The outline should include the Terms of Reference. 
 
2. Explain in the introduction why the issue/topic of the submission is important for PHAA or AHPA, why the issue/topic is important for health promotion/health equity. 
 
3. Speak to the issues most important to you/PHAA/AHPA (remember you don’t need to respond to all Terms of Reference) 

4. Submissions don’t need to be long. Shorter submissions that include evidence-based arguments and case study examples can be more powerful than unfocused long submissions. 

5. Importantly, if you are contributing to an advocacy submission for PHAA or AHPA and the association has a policy position statement related to the topic of the submission the submission should refer to that policy and make arguments that are aligned with the positions adopted in that policy.  

Looking at any related PHAA or AHPA policies can also help with finding evidence-based arguments to support key asks and recommendations to be included in the submission. 

Recommendations and Endorsing the Work of Others 

It is a good idea to use or endorse the work of others (e.g. PHAA, AHPA, the COSS network, NACCHO). These organisations may have submissions or policies on similar topics. 
There tends to be overlap in the principles that are endorsed by PHAA, AHPA, and partner organisations. 
Looking up recommendations on the topic of the submission that other organisations have developed is a good way to contribute to submissions while learning. 
Always explicitly state that the text is the work of others and that PHAA or AHPA supports the position or echo’s the recommendation made by that organisation. 

Final steps

Once a draft of a submission is complete, it is reviewed and formally approved by the PHAA policy team or PHAA Branch President or AHPA President (National or Branch) prior to being submitted.  

Draft national submissions for are sent to [email protected] (PHAA) and to [email protected] (AHPA) for review  

State/territory submissions are reviewed by the state/territory committee members for AHPA and PHAA.  

Other ways to Contribute to Advocacy 

1. Advocacy letters - shorter than a submission and focus on a specific ask/request. PHAA and AHPA have advocacy letters published on their websites which provide examples of how an advocacy letter can be set out. 

2. Writing to your MP - Tips earlier in this resource apply here. Effective letters to MPs and Senators are nonconfrontational. Focus on what you want to ask for and why it is important to you. Refer to your experience and evidence. 

3. Contribute to larger advocacy campaigns (ACOSS’ raise the rate campaign, the coalition led raise the age campaign). There can be power in numbers. 

4. Signing shared statements advocating for actions to be taken. 

5. Write for the PHAA's Intouch public health blog

6. Writing for Croakey Health Media. Writing based on lived experience or findings from your research can be of interest to Croakey. 

7. Contribute to policy position statements – these are used in advocacy but are written over a longer time frame. PHAA and AHPA have policy position statements in progress. 

Resources for Further Information 

Public Health Advocacy Institute of Western Australia (PHAIWA) Advocacy Toolkit (Fourth Edition)
https://www.phaiwa.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/2019_Advocacy-in-Action-A-Toolkit-for-Public-Health-Professionals-1.pdf 

Public Health and Equity Resource Navigator, Protecting Public Health Authority & Advocacy Toolkit
https://phern.communitycommons.org/protecting-public-health-authority-advocacy-toolkit/ 



Thank you to Dr Joanne Flavel for creating this resource.