Lived experience – partnering for change
We are committed to building ethical and safe partnerships with you. By actively listening, collaborating, and working together, we can improve our services, influence the service system, and amplify our collective advocacy voice.
Statement of commitment to family violence survivors
We are committed to ensuring Family Violence Survivors’ views, perspectives and ideas are elevated, heard and central to the decisions that directly impact them. We commit to purposeful partnering, intentional power sharing and curious, open listening as the cornerstone of authentic engagement and ethical partnerships founded on universal human rights.
We recognise that every Family Violence Survivor’s lived experience of violence is unique and can be complicated by intersecting, multiple forms of inequalities or discrimination. We respect each Family Violence Survivor’s identity, agency and choice, and commit to working alongside them to listen, understand and respond to their views, insights and knowledge.
We commit to understanding and valuing lived experience knowledge equally alongside professional qualifications and expertise, and to challenging our assumptions about Family Violence Survivors needs, wants and priorities.
Our partnership practice will be inclusive, trauma-informed and evidence based, and we prioritise psychological and cultural safety.
We believe:
- It is a person’s human right to participate in decisions that will affect them.
- Family Violence Survivors are experts in their own lives and context.
- Family Violence Survivors’ lived experiences have value and bring fresh perspectives to the decisions we make and the problems we want to solve.
- We will get better outcomes and create change faster if we involve people with lived experience of family violence in our decision making.
WE WILL:
VALUE lived experience knowledge and expertise equally with professional qualifications and experience.
RESPECT each Family Violence Survivor’s story, identity and agency.
BUILD TRUST and genuine relationships with the people who access our services.
LISTEN with curiosity to understand Family Violence Survivor’s insights and include their views in our decision-making processes.
SHARE POWER by creating safe opportunities for Family Violence Survivors to understand and utilise their Lived Experience Expertise.
ACT on the advice and views of Family Violence Survivors in decisions that affect them, including our practice, service design, advocacy for change, and how we work with other organisations to ensure safety.