Talk up

Most of the time things are good when people get assistance from services. Staff of services often make a huge difference to the quality of life of people they provide care for – every day or in special situations.

Sometimes things don’t go well and a person has reasons to be unhappy with the services they get. Sometimes people are worried about speaking up for themselves or their family members, because they worry that they will upset the service, that things get even worse if they say something or that they will even lose their services. They don’t want to complain, because they don’t want to be seen as ‘trouble makers’.

Everyone has the right to talk up when things are not going well or services don’t meet their needs. Things can change for the better if the person, who is unhappy, talks up. It is also important that people with disabilities feel confident that they can protect themselves from potential abuse and neglect.

The ‘TALK UP’ range of resources (video, posters, flyers, bookmark) promotes the rights of service users and their families to raise worries and concerns in a safe and protected way. For more information contact the HCSCC office on 1800 004 474 (free call from a land-line in the NT) or 8999 1969. You can also email us at hcscc@nt.gov.au.