Mr. Mervyn Taylor:

Sage Advocacy is an independent advocacy service for older people. There is a real need for skilled, independent advocacy services for people with mental health issues. It is a complex and very challenging area. Such a service just does not exist at the moment, both for the provision of peer advocacy, which is not always suitable, and representative advocacy. This is something the sub-committee might consider. There is a strong message in my submission that such a service is needed. When people become lost in the system for whatever reason, independent advocacy is often the bit that binds the pieces together and helps them to get out of the ditch, so to speak.