Guiding principles
We believe that health is a fundamental human right and are committed to working to help make sure that our health system meets the needs of all consumers throughout the different stages of life. Our work is guided by strong community development and social justice principles.
Our systemic advocacy work aims to achieve an efficient, accessible, equitable, consumer-centred and responsive healthcare system that achieves better health outcomes for ACT communities and region.
We believe that the voices and experiences of consumers should be heard and help guide the design and operation of all types of health services.
We work hard to ensure that consumers’ voices are heard, and that the needs and priorities of consumers are respected by policy makers and service designers.
We believe that no policy should be decided without the full and direct participation of the people affected by that policy.
Principles of Consumer Participation
In all of our consumer participation activities, we apply the following principles:
- Participation must be meaningful. This means:
- invitations to participate are genuine and thoughtfully planned – they are not tokenistic
- the consumer voice is respected and authentically represented
- information provided to consumers and the community is accurate and helpful; it does not seek to manipulate opinion or quash concerns
- Participation must be transparent. This means participants understand:
- how their input will be used
- how their input might influence a decision, action, policy or research outcomes; and the limits of this influence
- the outcome of their input – that is, how it influenced a decision, action, policy or research outcome
- Participation is supported. This means:
- providing information and resources to support participation
- providing education and training where appropriate and possible
- considering the principles of trauma-informed care when designing engagements
- Participation is inclusive. This means:
- supporting consumer and community participation that reflects the diversity of the ACT and surrounding region, and the diversity of health care needs.
Our Core Values
You can find out more about the values and principles that guide how we work in the following documents:
- Community Development Policy
- Consumer and Community Participation Framework
- Health Literacy Position Statement
Working with Multicultural Communities
HCCA has a focus on connecting with culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) groups and increasing their health literacy levels. We run information sessions for interested community groups. Our information sessions share information, and also collect comments, concerns and different issues raised within these groups when accessing health services in the ACT to inform our work.
We provide opportunities to connect with Canberra’s diverse communities including community consultations, focus groups, community forums and consumer representation training.