Social justice, equity and advocacy: WACE Year 12 Health Studies Unit 3
“Apply the principles of social justice and the concepts of equity and equality to evaluate and advocate for actions that reduce health inequities”
Social justice is the principle that everyone deserves fair access to the conditions for good health. Its principles are equity, diversity, supportive environments and participation. Equity means giving people what they each need to reach a similar outcome, which is different from equality (giving everyone the same). Advocacy is public action to change the conditions and policies that create inequities. WACE asks you to apply these ideas to judge actions and argue for fairer ones.
What this dot point is asking
WACE wants you to use social justice as a lens for evaluating and recommending action. A strong answer distinguishes equity from equality, applies the social justice principles to a scenario, and explains how advocacy could reduce a specific inequity. Marks reward correct use of the concepts and justified recommendations.
The principles of social justice
Equity means fairness, ensuring resources and opportunities are distributed according to need so that disadvantaged groups can reach health outcomes similar to others. Diversity means recognising and respecting differences in culture, ability, language and circumstance, and responding to them rather than treating everyone identically. Supportive environments means creating physical, social and economic surroundings that make good health possible for everyone. Participation means involving affected communities in decisions about their own health, so action reflects real needs and is more likely to be accepted and sustained.
A health inequity is a difference in health outcomes between groups that is unfair, avoidable and caused by unequal social conditions, rather than by biology or free choice. The word inequity carries a judgement of unfairness, which is what separates it from a simple inequality or difference. Reducing inequities means changing the unfair conditions, not just the outcomes.
Equity versus equality
Equality means treating everyone the same and giving each person identical resources. Equity means giving each person or group what they need to reach a fair outcome, which often means giving more to those who start with less. A single free vaccination clinic in a city centre treats everyone equally, but it is not equitable if remote communities cannot reach it. An equitable response would place services where the need is greatest. Confusing these two concepts is the most common error in this topic, so be precise: equal inputs do not guarantee equal outcomes when groups start from different positions.
How inequities arise
Inequities arise because the determinants of health are distributed unfairly. Groups facing concentrated disadvantage, such as low-income households, people in remote areas and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, experience worse access to services, less supportive environments and fewer resources. Because these conditions are socially produced, they can be changed, which is exactly what social justice demands.
Advocacy to reduce inequities
Advocacy is public action that influences decision-makers and shifts the conditions causing poor health. It can include lobbying government for policy change, running awareness campaigns, supporting community-led movements, and giving affected groups a voice in decisions. Advocacy connects directly to the Ottawa Charter strategy of advocating and to building healthy public policy. Effective advocacy targets the structural cause of an inequity, gives the affected community genuine participation, and aims for lasting change rather than a one-off fix.
How this maps to the exam
Expect a stimulus describing an unequal health situation or a proposed program. You may be asked to judge whether an action is equitable, to apply the social justice principles, or to recommend advocacy. Use the equity-versus-equality distinction explicitly and connect your recommendation to the determinants behind the inequity.
When asked to evaluate an action against social justice, the marks come from applying the equity-versus-equality test and the principles, then judging.
Classify the action: equal or equitable
A proposal offers the same online quit-smoking program to every adult in the state. Classify it: this is equality (identical inputs to all), not equity, because groups start from different positions.
Apply the social justice principles
Test it against the principles: it ignores diversity (no version for people with low digital access or English as an additional language), and it lacks participation (the affected communities did not shape it). Supportive environments are not addressed either.
Predict the effect on the inequity
Because high-need groups (low income, remote, low digital literacy) can least access an online-only program, identical inputs will help the already-advantaged most and the gap may widen rather than close.
Recommend an equitable alternative
Conclude that an equitable redesign would target resources by need: in-person and culturally safe delivery in high-need communities, co-designed with them, plus advocacy for supportive policy. State explicitly that needs-based action, not identical treatment, is what reduces the inequity. This applied judgement is the top-band response.
Students frequently treat equity and equality as interchangeable, which loses marks because the whole point of the topic is the difference. Equality is identical treatment; equity is needs-based treatment aimed at fair outcomes. State which one an action represents, then explain whether it will actually reduce the inequity given that the groups started from different positions.
Exam-style questions
Questions in the style of SCSA exam questions on this dot point, each with a worked answer. They are written by ExamExplained unless tagged "Past paper"; the year shows the paper a question is modelled on.
WACE 2022-style6 marksUsing an example, explain the difference between equity and equality, and evaluate whether a proposed action would reduce a health inequity.Show worked answer →
A 6 mark response needs the distinction, an example, and a judgement of the action.
- Distinguish
- Equality means treating everyone the same and giving identical resources; equity means giving each group what it needs to reach a fair outcome, often more to those who start with less.
- Example
- A single free vaccination clinic in a city centre treats everyone equally, but it is not equitable if remote communities cannot reach it; an equitable response places services where need is greatest.
- Evaluate the action
- Judge the proposal against this: if it gives identical inputs to groups starting from different positions, it will not close the gap. An equitable action targets the determinants of the disadvantaged group, so it is more likely to reduce the inequity.
Markers reward an explicit equity-versus-equality distinction, a clear example, and a judgement tied to whether the action addresses unequal starting positions.
WACE 2023-style4 marksExplain how advocacy can be used to reduce a health inequity.Show worked answer →
A 4 mark response needs a definition and a worked mechanism.
Definition. Advocacy is public action that influences decision-makers and shifts the conditions causing poor health, for example lobbying for policy change, awareness campaigns and supporting community-led movements.
Mechanism. Effective advocacy targets the structural cause of an inequity (not just the symptom), gives the affected community genuine participation, and aims for lasting change such as new healthy public policy, which reaches the disadvantaged group at scale.
Markers reward a definition and a link from advocacy to changing the structural conditions behind the inequity.