Fair Go Campaign – Overview

ADSO’s “FAIR GO!” campaign is an issues based, apolitical campaign to influence all political parties to accept our objectives and in Government to implement them thereby correct existing wrongs and improving the well being of the Defence Family .

We engage directly with the Government, its appropriate Ministers and political parties to achieve our objectives. By necessity we operate within the political arena to lobby on veterans’ issues. We support politicians who support our policies and encourage the ones that don’t to review their priorities. We play the issues and not the people.

ADSO’s strategy to achieve its objectives involves direct and indirect actions in two concurrent directions:

  1. Direct Engagement. A two pronged personal lobbying engagement, top down and bottom up, to build good relationships and understanding of and promotion of our objectives.
    1. Top down to specific advocacy consultation meetings with appropriate ministers and shadow ministers, and all Parliamentarians, Political Parties and relevant Departments by the ADSO Lobby Team
    2. Bottom up in local electorates to sitting MPs & Senators and potential candidates by ADSO’s Direct Action Teams and supporters. 
  2. Indirect Engagement to the Australian people through the national social networks to win their support.

Our Canberra lobby team has direct access to the DVA Minister through quarterly meetings with him/her and staff on topical issues. Importantly we are represented on DVA’s National Consultative Framework and its constituent forums:

It is a formal consultative structure designed to facilitate effective communication between the veteran and ex-service community, the Repatriation and Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commissions, and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA). It gives us the opportunity to influence DVA’s policies and processes and to identify and recommend solutions to identified recommend problems.

As well as initiating submissions to Government, we respond to all Government inquiries related to veterans’ issues with researched submission and attend related public hearings and inquiries to address them.

ADSO’s Major Policy Objectives – 2019 – 2023

ADSO seeks the Government’s agreement to these objectives during the course of the 46th Parliament of Australia.