Since we started to
contact people about PADP we've had lots of
support. Everyone we've been in touch with
agrees that more money needs to be invested in
PADP by the State Government.
Quite a few people have
said:
"We support the
campaign. We want to help. We want to write a
letter to our local MP. But it would help us
if we had a few pointers or reminders …
because it's not something we do every day of
the week."
So we've put together this
guide. We hope it helps you.
Read it through quickly to
get an idea of what's here.
Read it a second time,
making some notes as you read the
guide.
Pause, make a mug of tea
or coffee, and think about what you want to
say.
Write a first draft of
your letter.
Put your first draft aside
for a while (Have another mug of tea or
coffee).
Re-read your letter and
make changes if you think any are
needed.
Sign it.
Keep a copy.
Send it to your
MP.
Send a copy to
PDCN.
Good luck AND
thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1. First things
first
Writing letters
to politicians is an important part of
lobbying. Politicians truly are influenced by
individual letters from real
constituents.
In this short guide we
describe the skeletons of two types of letter
you might want to consider. Choose the format
that's most appropriate for you then work
with our suggestions to write a letter in
your personal style.
Letter style # 1: A
letter about your personal problems with
PADP.
Letter style # 2: A
more general letter about your belief that
PADP needs to have more investment made by
the State Government.
2. Writing to MPs
about PADP
Politicians
always respond best (and quickest) to
personal letters from people who live in
their Electorate.
Politicians, it must
also be said, are not stupid. If they receive
two, three or one hundred letters on a topic
and all of the letters are word for word
exactly the same the letters get dismissed as
being 'organised'.
It is best, therefore,
that any letter you write should use you own
words. It should be written in your personal
style. It should come genuinely from you,
including, if it can, personal illustrations
from your life, your family's experience or
those of people you know.
What follows are not,
therefore, draft letters for you to simply
sign and send off. That would be dismissed as
not genuine. We have set out skeletons of
draft letters. You should flesh them out with
your words and experience.
All Letters should
include:
The name and address of
the politician you are writing to. (Check the
details for your local MP on the State
Parliament web site at: http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/web/phweb.nsf/frames/members
Your name, address and
phone number so the politician can contact
you. (You might be surprised at how often
people forget these basic facts).
The date you
wrote.
Introduce yourself
briefly. For example:
My name is Crocodile
Dundee. I have lived in your Electorate all
my life.
I am writing to you as
someone who has just moved into your
Electorate.
We met last year at the
Australia Day Celebration. You said I should
contact you if ever I was worried about
something or had a problem.
Explain why you are
writing. For example:
Letter # 1: your
personal experience of PADP
I want your help to fix
a problem that I'm having with the Programme
of Appliances for Disabled People, known as
PADP, which is managed by NSW
Health.
I applied for a
wheelchair / mobility aid / bath aid /
continence equipment (be specific) 3 months /
6 months / a year ago.
I've not been told if
my request has been approved or
rejected.
My application was
approved 3 months / 6 months ago but the
equipment still has not been
provided.
I've been placed on the
waiting list and told it will be at least 6
months / 1 year until the equipment will be
provided.
I've been told that
PADP will only pay for half the cost of the
equipment. I have to pay $1,000 / $3,000 /
$5,000 even though I only receive Disability
Support Pension.
My application has been
rejected and I can't find out why.
Letter # 2: About
how limited funds for PADP cause problems for
lots of people with
disability.
I want to express my
concern about inadequate funding of the
Programme of Appliances for Disabled People,
known as PADP, which is managed by NSW
Health.
PADP is supposed to
provide essential equipment like wheelchairs
/ hoists / beds / walking frames /
communication augmentation to people with
disability.
Many people with
disability have problems getting the
equipment they need to be able to live with
dignity in the community.
There are long waiting
lists for equipment. People often wait for 6
months or 1 year. Some people have waited for
2 years or more.
People who have to wait
a long time for essential equipment face many
avoidable problems:
Health suffers (and
some people end up back in
hospital).
Family life suffers
(additional strain is placed on personal
relationships when family members have to
substitute for equipment like hoists or
mobility aids).
People get stuck at
home and can't participate in education,
employment, social or recreational
activity.
Other Government funded
services have to provide costly alternatives
because of the lack of equipment.
All the interested
parties (the Minister for Health, NSW Health,
non-government disability service providers,
advocacy groups, people with disability and
their families) accept that unmet need for
PADP exists and is increasing.
Tell the Member of
Parliament what you want her or him to
do.
Letter # 1: your
personal experience of PADP
I want you to contact NSW
Health to get them to fix my problem.
I want you to contact the
Minister for Health to get them to fix my
problem.
I want you to write to the
Treasurer to demand more money for PADP so that
I, and people like me, don't have this problem
in the future.
I want to meet with you to
discuss my problem in more detail.
Letter # 2: About how
limited funds for PADP cause problems for lots
of people with disability.
I want you to write to the
Minister for Health to ask him what he intends
to do to fix the problem.
I want you to ask a
question in Parliament about why there are
waiting lists for PADP.
Please ask the Treasurer
to allocate more money to the PADP Budget. I
believe it needs to increase to about $35
Million for the whole of NSW.
I want you to meet with
some friends and me because we are very
concerned about these problems and believe the
State Government must do more for people with
disability who need PADP.
3. Sign your
letter (people do forget to sign
them!!!!)
4. Keep a copy of
your letter (AND send a copy to
PDCN)
5. Give the
politician a week to read your letter and
reply. If you hear nothing by then,
phone their office (take a note of what's said
in the phone call).
6. Contact PDCN if
you get a reply.
Good luck!
Dougie Herd
Executive Officer
Physical Disability Council of New South Wales
(PDCN)
