Last Resort

05 Mar Last Resort

Dear Here to Help,

I have been reading your column over the past years and I wonder what to do once all other avenues have been exhausted, without result?

Thank you for your letter.

Sometimes, it feels like you aren’t getting anywhere with government, or other large bureaucracies. You have tried their internal complaints mechanisms, external bodies (such as the Ombudsman) and even talking to local politicians as a last resort. But you keep getting the same reply that doesn’t respond to, or sometimes even understand, the issue you are facing.

First, think about how much more time and effort you want to invest in this issue. Sure, nobody should get away with bad behaviour, but do you have the time and energy to keep going.

Second, look at successful campaigns and use them as a model. Think about campaigns like these.

• ‘Ending the tampon tax’ harnessed community power over nearly 2 decades to mobilise the community, including:
  • petitions
  • protests
  • traditional media campaigns
  • social media pages

more information is available here

• First Nations campaigns include:
  • the Aboriginal tent embassy, established outside Parliament House in 1972 and listed on the National Estate by the Australian Heritage Commission in 1995
  • taking government to Court – such as the Mabo case
  • popular songs – such as ‘Treaty’
• This website contains a lot of information about grassroots policy campaigns.

Be prepared to think laterally. You might be surprised how much action can follow simple actions, like:

• letters to the editor in a newspaper
• social media posts
• writing a book
• harnessing your community to action

Most of all, it takes persistence.

This article comes from my column entitled “Here to Help” in Hunter Local, March 2026. If you have an everyday problem just begging for a simple, real world solution, send it to “Here to Help” and let’s see what we can achieve.

Elaine Abery has a closet full of great ideas and empowering solutions. She’s also the Director of Unravelling Red Tape, a company dedicated to helping everyday people, not-for-profits and companies change the world through improved decision-making and legislation.

Photo by Steve Johnson on Unsplash