Whether you’re communicating with funders to attract or retain funding for the work you do in HJP, or you’re connecting with policy makers to share lessons from your work that help inform policy and law reform processes, here are some tips for HJP practitioners from Health Justice Australia’s Strategic Advocacy Manager, Kate Finch, about how to effectively engage.
Before you start, make sure you know what you’d like to achieve from the engagement. Health Justice Australia’s Advocacy tools for health justice partnership is a useful resource to help you in this process, as well as helping you explain exactly what it is you do. Secondly, make sure you are talking to the right people – identify who makes the decisions that relate to the relevant policy or funding area and seek out the people you would like in the room.
Tips for engaging with policy makers
- If you want to highlight a systemic issue impacting on your clients, as well as describing the problem, be clear on the action you’re seeking.
- Check the local context first and identify if there are other local organisations working on the issue that you might want to speak to and/or collaborate with in your advocacy.
- It can be helpful before any meeting to research and identify if the individual you’re meeting with has a position on the issue or related areas. And if they are a politician, what is their party position?
- Engaging with policy makers is an opportunity to elevate the voices of those with lived and/or living experience who will likely be impacted by the action or change you are seeking. You can introduce those with lived experience directly or, if this isn’t possible, illustrate the experiences of the community to the policy makers with stories and examples. If they are from your client/s, you will likely have internal processes for confidentiality and consent to speak about their experience and expertise. For more formal research to cite, check out our data supporting HJP resource.
Tips for engaging with funders
- What do you need, and when do you need it? Are you asking them to fund your whole program, or part of it? Who are the other contributors?
- Be prepared to show funders the value of partnership in the context of their priorities and jurisdictions. Are you focused on a particular funding round or population group that aligns with the funder’s purpose?
- Have clear examples of the impact of your work and, as mentioned above, consider how you can elevate the voices of people with lived and/or living experience of the complexity you are seeking to address. Our FAQ for funders is a good general explainer – download and print out the PDF if you’re leaving an info packet behind after the meeting.
Be prepared
Whether you are meeting in person or online, it’s a good idea to have notes with your key talking points, your asks, or recommendations. This can help jog your memory around the important points that you wanted to highlight. Don’t be afraid to refer to these in the meeting.
Have a follow-up document that you can leave behind or email over after the meeting. This should be a succinct one pager that summarises your key points, and most importantly your asks or recommendations.
If you would like more information on policy and advocacy in HJP, please contact Health Justice Australia’s Strategic Advocacy Manager, Kate Finch, at Kate.Finch@healthjustice.org.au.
