With the 2025 Federal Election fast approaching, now is the time to advocate for occupational therapy. OTA’s Federal Election Advocacy Toolkit provides everything you need to engage with local candidates and highlight our profession’s priorities.

OTA has been actively meeting with government and key stakeholders to advocate for these 27 calls to action across workforce, disability, mental health, aged care, primary care, and veterans’ services. Now, we need your voice to amplify these efforts.

What’s in the Toolkit?

1. OTA’s 2025 Federal Election Statement – Outlines 27 key calls to action across workforce, disability, mental health, aged care, primary care, and veterans’ services. Developed in collaboration with our members.
2. OTA’s 2025 Federal Election Playbook – A detailed breakdown of our policy asks, to support your advocacy efforts.
3. Letter Template for Members – A ready-to-use, customisable letter to send to local candidates via our ‘Do-Gooder’ platform, advocating for OT priorities, and the option of requesting a meeting.
4. Meeting with Your Local Candidates Guide – Practical advice on preparing for meetings, presenting key issues, and following up.

How to Use the Toolkit

• Get Informed – Read the Federal Election Statement and Playbook to understand the full context of our priorities and rationale behind each call to action.
• Tailor Your Message – Use the letter template to craft a personalised message to your local candidate, incorporating your own experiences and highlighting key issues in your community. Send your letters from our campaign platform [insert link to Do Gooder]
• Engage Directly – Prepare for face-to-face or virtual meetings with candidates using the Meeting with Your Local Candidates Guide. Bring copies of the Federal Election Statement and Playbook to support your discussion.
• Advocate as One Voice – Consistency is key. By using these materials together, we ensure that the occupational therapy community speaks with one clear, united voice in this election.

What’s Next?

Join us for OTA’s Federal Election Forum

OTA is hosting a Federal Election Forum where we will present the toolkit and discuss how members can use it to engage with candidates and reinforce our calls to action.

Forum Details

Date: Friday 21 March
Time: 12pm AEDT Location: Online
Register here to attend or paste this link into your browser: https://otaus.com.au/event/e91bda75-8bf8-ef11-9a42-00505696a186