How you can be heard this election

This election, MND Australia, the national peak body of the State Associations, is asking all federal politicians to commit to improving policies and funding programs that will help everyone impacted by MND. 

Elections are a key time to let your MPs know what you most care about, the issues impacting you, and how an MP can best represent you. This election time, we strongly encourage you to make your voice heard and tell your MPs that you want them to improve policies and funding to help everyone living with MND. 

Whether you have a specific experience with a department or process that you’d like politicians to think about, you want to raise awareness of how the disease has impacted your life, or you want to advocate broadly for MND Australia’s election priorities, we want to help you have your voice heard. 

Here’s what you can do. 

• Find your federal electorate here. 
• Find the candidates in your electorate here. The ABC News website lists each electorate A-Z. Once you’ve clicked on your electorate, it’ll provide you with history about your electorate, and the names and websites of each of your candidates. Candidate websites will have their contact information.

Knowing your candidates is important for gaining contact information, for tailoring any contact you have with them (for example, if your federal MP specifically mentions that health care is a priority for them, you can use that bit of information when you approach them), and/or for recognising them if you see them during the campaign. 

We strongly encourage you to read through MND Australia’s election platform, to know what we’re asking for from all politicians.

Talking points, which can be found here, can help you understand how each of these asks will improve the lives of people with MND, and provide key snippets of information you can share with your MPs.

Think about what parts of your life and experiences with MND you’d feel comfortable talking about. You may want to write this down in a letter form, or dot-point it as discussion points that you can refer to in a discussion with an MP. 

Your federal MPs will be out at community events and may appear randomly at your door. But you also have a few ways that you can initiate contact with your MPs: 

Make your letter personal and informative, letting them know about the extra support people living with MND require. MPs, and their teams, are time-poor, so a great rule of thumb is to keep your letter to 1-2 pages.  

Other important information to include is your name, the fact that you’re voting and living in their electorate, and how MND has touched your life. Visual information helps connect people to the emotion of a story, so if you’re able to include an image of yourself, that’ll help the MP feel the personal impact of MND.

If you’d like help constructing your letter, or identifying the best way to structure it, please reach out to Jess at community@mnd.org.au

You can call the offices of each of your MPs. While you’re unlikely to be able to speak directly with your candidate over the phone, you can tell the staffer who picks up:

• Your name
• That you live in their electorate
• How MND has touched your life
• You want them to agree to MND Australia’s election platform. 

You can also express your interest in meeting with or speaking directly to your MP during this call. Regardless, the staffer will take note of the fact that improved MND funding and policies are important to you and pass this on to your MP. 

If you use social media (particularly Facebook or Instagram), you can let your connections know that advocating for MND during this election period is important to you.  

The easiest way to share your view is to share MND Australia’s election platform post: 

• The post is here on Facebook
• The post is here on Instagram  

For added impact, when you press the share button you should add in either a sentence expressing your support or a longer message to your friends and family explaining why improved MND policies and funding are important to you. 

Alternatively, you can create your own post, expressing the changes you’d like to see, and sharing as much of your own story as you feel comfortable with. 

MPs all have social media profiles too, so you can tag the MPs in your electorate in any post you make. 

Alongside MND Australia and the other State Associations, we’re actively engaging with federal MPs on MND Australia’s identified priorities, and informing every MP we speak to about the reality of living with MND in Australia today. 

If you would like to join us at any in-person conversations we have with your MPs, or would be interested in other ways you can contribute to change in this election, please contact Jess at community@mnd.org.au