Understanding Your Rights

Not sure what you are actually entitled to? Knowing your rights will not fix everything, but it changes how you walk into the room.

Many people are told what they cannot have long before anyone tells them what they can. Learning your rights is not about being argumentative. It is about asking clearly and calmly, with something solid behind you.

Five rights worth knowing

You have the right to:

• Be treated with respect and dignity. This applies to every service, workplace and school you deal with, however busy or stretched they are.
• Access services, work, education and community spaces. If something blocks you, you can ask for it to be changed.
• Make informed choices about your own life. That means getting the information in a way you can understand, and being given the time to decide.
• Speak up and challenge decisions that affect you. You can ask why a decision was made and ask for it to be looked at again.
• Take on leadership roles or become a peer advocate. Your experience counts, and it can become a valued role.

A right on paper is not always a right you can use

Having a right and being able to use it are two different things. A right you cannot find, or cannot afford to chase, does not do much for you in practice. I wrote about this gap in A Right on Paper Is Not a Right You Can Use.

That is why knowing your rights is only the first step. The second is knowing how to ask.

When a right is not respected

Here is a calm order to work through:

1. Ask for the decision and the reasons in writing. A decision you cannot see is hard to challenge.
2. Ask who made it, and how it can be reviewed. Most services have a process, even if they do not mention it.
3. Keep a record. Dates, names and what was said. There is a simple way to do this in Documenting and Tracking Advocacy Efforts.
4. Ask for the decision to be looked at again. Put it in a clear, short message. How to Write a Clear Advocacy Email shows you how.
5. Take it further if you need to. Many countries have an ombudsman or a complaints body. In Australia, the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission handles complaints about NDIS supports and providers.

If you are not sure what to ask for, the six things you can ask any system for is a good place to start.

A note on where you live

Your exact rights depend on your country, your state and the service involved. Check the rules for your own situation, and ask someone you trust or an independent advocate if you need help. Nothing on this page is legal advice. You can read more about what Lightening Up can and cannot do on the Safety, Scope and AI page.

The bit that matters most

Your voice carries more weight when it is backed by knowledge. Start with one right that matters to you right now, and work out what it should look like in real life.