Working with an advocate (and when to do it yourself)

Accredited advocates through ex-service organisations are free or low-cost. Find one on the ATDP Advocacy Register. Compensation advocates help with claims and VRB. Wellbeing advocates help with the rest of life. They are not your lawyer and they are not DVA.

Brief them like a busy person

• One-page chronology.
• List of live claim numbers and what each is for.
• The decision you want changed, and by when.
• The three best medical reports, not the whole box.
• Any SPOC or communication limit, so they can be the channel.

You can self-represent. Many people do. Self-representing is not a reason to skip the register — a two-hour advocate review of a VRB application still pays for itself. If an advocate goes quiet, chase them the same way you would chase DVA, then find another. The register exists because quality varies.