Our campaign to end abhorrent guardianship and administration practices has been the longest, largest, and most time, emotion, and labour-intensive campaign for systemic change we have ever undertaken. So much of the work has been undertaken by employees volunteering their time and hearts, as we are not funded for systemic work of this scale. But it has been worth all the sleepless nights fighting for the rights of people who have been ignored and harmed by these systems for far too long.
Our campaign started in 2021. Throughout the campaign, we have worked to amplify the voices of people who bravely spoke out about what was happening to them behind closed doors. We have engaged with politicians at every level of government, worked with media to tell people’s stories, and tirelessly sought to change the fundamentals of these systems from being coercion and state control to choice and dignity.
We succeeded in having an independent review called into Tasmania’s Public Trustee that made clear what we already knew – that these government agencies fundamentally misunderstood their own job, and we successfully campaigned for the rights of people to share their own stories.
We are now embarking on a new chapter, with better laws and protections that we have helped influence and shape, with more tools to fights for the rights and decisions of people throughout the state. But this new chapter is not the end, there is so much further to go. And we will be there, standing alongside everyone who deserves better, for as long as it takes.
You can read more about our campaign below.