Social Enterprise

WHY WE'RE A SOCIAL ENTERPRISE, NOT A CHARITY!

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Sustainability & revenue is key focus of a social enterprise.

A 'Social Enterprise' is an enterprise whose primary aim is to make a social impact.

Everyone has a right to take part in arts and culture. This right is included in two important documents that protect the rights of people with an impairment or mental health condition:

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• The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; and
   

• The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Article 30).
   

Current approaches to arts and disability in Australia overwhelmingly target the therapeutic benefits of art-marking, but do little to recognise the creative, cultural, and aesthetic contributions artists with disabilities make to Australian cultural life. Art Advocacy firmly believes society benefits when the wider community understands and values the creative contribution of artists with impairments and their cultural aspirations
    

Our Social Mission:
 

•  To develop the careers of artists with disabilities or mental health illness into nationally & internationally recognised for their artist excellence as professional artists amongst the mainstream cultural sector, earning no less than their counterparts without a disability.
   

• To champion the aesthetics of disability arts and challenge prevailing notions of disability.
   

• To advocate for arts leaders with disabilities, including securing paid work at the appropriate level, and transitioning them into leadership roles across the sector.
   

Our Aims:
 

• To change the perceptions of artists with disabilities
   

• To address the need to solve the social problems faced by artist with disabilities in Australia's professional arts practice:
   

Artists with disability are 50% more under-represented and earn 42% less than their counterparts without disability, experience unemployment at higher rates, and are more likely to identify a lack of access to funding as a barrier to their professional development.​

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• Work to ensure people with impairments can fully participate in the community

• Promoting and upholding the human rights of people with disability

• Empowering people with disability to make decisions affecting their lives

• Honouring and valuing the lived experience of people with disability

• Promoting inclusiveness and accessibility by identifying and addressing barriers

• Addressing and preventing discrimination by educating others about the rights of people with disability.