Co-design with lived experience/survivor advocates

Louise Sheenan from Bayside Peninsula Integrated Family Violence Partnership (BPIFVP) shared with us how the idea of the microcredential first arose: “Ilsa Evans and I discussed the need for a ‘toolkit’ and training opportunity for lived experience advocates, and brain-stormed what this might look like. However, the idea remained just that until the grant opportunity was presented. I think this speaks so well for being engaged in and creating networks across multiple sectors and agencies. Having opportunities and spaces to raise ideas, even in their infancy, can genuinely result in outcomes.”

The training will support participants to contextualise their personal experiences within the global evidence base plus contemporary family violence frameworks while building capability in areas such as ethical storytelling, responding to disclosures, intersectionality, self-reflection and community engagement. Two widely promoted industry roundtables were conducted. The first, hosted by BPIFVP, brought together 23 representatives from industry organisations and other sector leaders. 

The second roundtable, hosted by WHISE, broadened consultation and enabled further discussion around curriculum design, terminology, content priorities and delivery approaches. WHISE has been working with Chisholm on various occasions since 2023 and when the opportunity arose to collaborate on the microcredential, saw strong benefits and learning opportunities:

“The enablers of this partnership have been the openness to the expertise that each partner brings and flexibility to adapt the content accordingly. There has been a willingness on the part of all 3 partners to step outside of the usual limitations of their roles and look to what will support people in the community with lived experience on their journey not just to becoming survivor advocates, but actually to understand the context of their own lived experience and see the bigger social-ecological picture which can support healing and recovery.

Another enabler has been the willingness of Chisholm to share the grant funds so that WHISE and BPIFVP could not only participate but also engage lived experience advocates in the process of giving feedback on the micro-credentials.” (Danielle McCaffrey from WHISE)

Danielle also shared some valuable learning from this collaboration:

“Some challenges have been that this is on top of substantive roles, so is under considerable time pressure for all 3 partners. There were significant gaps in all of our understanding of each other’s portfolios and systemic context which could have easily derailed negotiations if there hadn’t been existing trust and positive attitude from all partners.

"All three partners value partnership as integral to system improvement for those who use them; whether they be students, lived experience advocates, community members, practitioners with lived experience or organisations engaging advocates. Without partnership we are limited in our perspectives, only working on our siloed part of the puzzle without connecting with other parts of the system or community.”

Want to learn more about the applied research project and the research being undertaken?