Veterans’ Advocacy Research Project

Ex-service organisations (ESOs) and advocates will soon be invited to complete surveys asking them about their support capacity and their plans for the future of their advocacy workforce. This will provide vital information about whether current advocates plan to continue providing advocacy services, and for how long.

This project will help both ESOs and DVA understand the future capacity of the advocacy workforce.  

ESOs and advocates play an important role in supporting the wellbeing of veterans. This includes helping veterans to access other services that they need – whether it be financial assistance, help with housing, or help with finding a school for their children in a new location after separation from the ADF.

DVA is working hard to make claiming and accessing services easier, which may reduce the demand for advocacy assistance, and will continue to support ESOs that help veterans with both claims and wellbeing needs. 

In order for the research to provide an accurate picture of the capacity and coverage of veterans’ advocacy services, it is important for as many ESOs and advocates to participate in the project as possible.

The researchers will conduct two surveys, one aimed at ESOs and the other at advocates.  

ESOs will be contacted by email and invited to complete a survey asking them about their current capacity to support veterans and their plans for the future of their advocacy workforce.  ESOs that provide advocacy services but have not received an invitation to complete the survey by Friday 13 November should email shona.bates [at] unsw.edu.au (shona[dot]bates[at]unsw[dot]edu[dot]au).

In addition, advocates will be invited to participate in an anonymous survey seeking information on the services they currently provide and their plans for the future.  A link to this survey will be provided to ESOs and they will be asked to distribute the link to their advocates.  A link to the survey will also be available on DVA’s website.