Advocacy
What is Advocacy for children and young people? Barnardos Australia utilises the information gathered in the course of its work about the lives of disadvantaged Australian
children and young people. This is used to improve community and Government responses to vulnerable families.
Barnardos welfare workers monitor social problems and the impact of Government policy, as an integral part of their work. This knowledge is used to respond to government and community inquiries and to raise issues pro-actively through work with industry lobby groups such as Councils of Social Service and Families Australia. Submissions to State and Federal Parliamentary Inquiries are a regular part of our work.
Barnardos also works directly with client and industry groups to further the welfare of children today. We have active partnerships with client and carer groups on particular issues.
Barnardos aims at 'best practice' and uses its professional skills to develop new ways of reaching and assisting children, young people and their families. This knowledge is made available to other child welfare services. For example Barnardos has adapted the ‘Looking After Children’ international case management system to Australia and is making it available to agencies via the Internet.
Barnardos is actively involved in gathering research. We have numbers of research partnerships with Universities in Australia and overseas to independently research programs and social problems. International literature is reviewed and made available to all staff together with copies of recent submissions via Barnardos Intranet.