1434 NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE, No. 56 24 MARCH 2005

Advocacy service organisations and individual advocates
shall not offer opinions about the interpretation of the Code
or other rights except to refer consumers, providers or media
to any relevant decisions or statements by the courts, Human
Rights Review Tribunal or the Commissioner and to assist
consumers or providers to understand those decisions and
statements.

5. Quality

It is important that the quality and effectiveness of the
advocacy service is monitored and evaluated regularly and
that improvements to the service are made on the basis of
feedback from consumers, complainants, providers and
advocates.

Advocacy Practice Guidelines

6. Empowered Consumers

Consumers remain in control and take responsibility for
their issues, concerns and rights. Advocates, through
empowerment advocacy and encouragement, assist all
consumers and other complainants to act on their own
behalf. If the consumer is unable to act on his or her
own behalf or it is culturally inappropriate for the consumer
to speak on his or her own behalf and requests the advocate to
do so, the advocate may accept instructions to act or assist
on behalf of the consumer.

7. Protecting the Wider Body of Consumers

Advocates may have concerns about a provider’s practice or
any other matter that relates to the rights of health
consumers or disability consumers or both (whether in
relation to a particular consumer, a group of consumers or
consumers generally).

These concerns may have arisen through an advocate
working with a consumer who is unwilling or unable to
complain, or from trends identified by the advocate in the
course of his or her work, or from concerns raised by others
in the community. The concerns can relate to an individual
provider’s practice, a group of providers’ practice, and/or
systems and processes used by the provider/s, or a
combination of provider practice and the systems and
processes being used. When concerns are not confined to
a specific provider’s practice or a specific system or process,
it is sometimes referred to as being a “systemic” concern.

In order to protect the wider body of consumers and ensure
the proper accountability of providers, an advocacy service
may contact providers directly about the concerns raised, or
draw the matter directly to the Commissioner’s attention.
The advocacy service can contact the provider directly in the
first instance when concerns can be appropriately resolved
at a low level. The service manager shall notify the Director
of Advocacy of all direct contacts about systemic and
non-systemic concerns made by advocates, in the absence
of a formal complaint.

An advocate shall refer systemic and non-systemic concerns
that cannot be dealt with appropriately with low level
resolution directly to the Health and Disability
Commissioner. A referral shall also be made where the
concern has been raised previously by the advocacy service,
and the provider has not responded or taken appropriate
action.

8. Priorities

Persons who are least able to self-advocate, and those
persons whose welfare is most at risk and who do not have
an appropriate support person, are the priority for all inquiry
and complaint advocacy services to consumers. Those
considered as having their welfare most at risk are likely to
be consumers who may experience two or more of the
following:

• difficulty in communicating and being understood
• living in a situation where physical, emotional, mental
or financial abuse by an informal or formal caregiver is
threatened or has occurred
• mental illness and/or drug or alcohol addictions that
may impede their ability to reason and/or be understood
or taken seriously.
• Very little social contact
• little or no family support

It is important for advocates to establish, build and maintain
positive working relationships with informal and formal
providers/caregivers where the consumer whose welfare is
most at risk is required to use the ongoing services of the
provider or caregiver.

9. Consumer Interdependence

When working with consumers, advocates assist and
encourage them to develop their own support networks. This
enables them to remain in control and take responsibility for
their own issues, concerns and rights. Ongoing support
networks may include family, extended family, friends and
neighbours, other consumers, paid professionals or advocacy
groups to meet their ongoing advocacy needs and to assist in
the resolution of their issues. Health and disability consumer
advocacy may be used in conjunction with a consumer’s
network of support people.

10. Role of Advocates

An advocate provides information, facilitates, and makes it
as easy as possible for the consumer to pursue and resolve
his or her concerns and issues with advocacy support. An
advocate provides assistance to consumers to pursue a
complaint through any informal or formal procedures,
including proceedings before a health professional body.

An advocate assists a consumer to gain knowledge, and
offers skill training to assist the consumer to develop
confidence to represent herself/himself. This is so that the
consumer is supported to resolve the current issue with
assistance and to resolve future issues, where possible, using
the skills and knowledge gained through working alongside
an advocate.

When assisting a consumer, advocates shall not offer
opinions as to whether there has been a breach of the Code.
The advocate represents or assists the consumer to resolve
issues. While advocates may need to obtain information
about a consumer’s concerns, they shall not investigate or
adjudicate on issues raised, nor act as an impartial mediator.
If resolution is not achieved, the advocate shall, if requested
by the consumer, assist the consumer in finding an
appropriate forum where issues raised may be mediated or
complaints may be investigated. This can involve the
advocate in supporting a consumer through the Health and
Disability Commissioner complaint processes and/or the
Director of Proceedings processes.

11. Advocates’ Role with Providers

Advocacy services and advocates support consumers who
believe their rights under the Code have been breached.
Advocates convey the consumer’s issues, concerns and/or
complaints, not their own. Advocates are on the side of the
consumer and may present some challenging situations to
the provider, but this does not prevent them from being fair,
considerate and professional in all their dealings with
providers.

Advocates do not offer an opinion as to whether there
has been a breach of the Code, nor are they impartial
mediators, investigators or adjudicators. Advocates give free
presentations to provider group, on advocacy services, the
Health and Disability Commissioner role, the Code, and the
complaints processes available to consumers. Presentations
should, where possible, be in a format appropriate to the
needs of the audience.