Lived experience engagement
Our purpose is to ensure that lived experience perspectives and expertise are valued across Lifeline Australia’s activities.
Lifeline Lived Experience Framework
Lifeline recognises the immense value the involvement of people with lived experience brings to our organisation and the work we do. We are committed to bringing in and incorporating the voices of people with lived experience to enhance outcomes for people seeking our services.
In June 2025 we launched a Lived Experience Framework to underpin our work. The co-development of a Lived Experience Framework is an important step to document this commitment to ensure all involved have a consistently positive experience across a range of engagement mechanisms.
The Framework aims to ensure a consistent, positive experience for participants and staff in all lived experience engagements, valuing lived experience and integrating it into Lifeline Australia’s activities. It will serve as the overall approach to all current lived experience mechanisms, and any new ones created in the future.
The purpose of the Framework was developed through in-depth consultations and co-development sessions with a range of stakeholders, including people with lived experience who currently engage with Lifeline. The Lived Experience Framework is intended to ensure:
- A consistent and positive experience for people with lived experience who participate in engagements and for Lifeline staff who coordinate the mechanisms and opportunities.
- The perspectives of people with lived experience inform Lifeline’s strategic decisions and service design and improvement through a range of engagement mechanisms.
- Continuous improvement of how Lifeline offers and facilitates lived experience engagement.
- Our strategy to “transform the experience of help heekers” is realised.
For more information, you can read an overview of the Framework here.
A tailored engagement approach
New and existing ways of working with lived experience will continue and will be guided by the Framework to ensure consistency and adherence to its principles.
We will enhance our engagements through a distributed model that embeds lived experience throughout the organisation. The Framework will ensure we understand where each mechanism adds value, provide support for groups to complement each other, and ensure strong communications and governance.
Find out more about our Lived Experience Advisory Group, who provide lived experience guidance to Lifeline. This group supports the design, implementation, and evaluation of Lifeline Australia’s policy, research, and practice through respectful and collaborative engagement.
Lifeline Voices is an initiative where people with different lived experiences can share feedback and stories to help us improve Lifeline’s support services. By adding your voice, you can help us shape more compassionate, effective supports for everyone who needs them – now, and in the future.
If you're interested in joining, you can find out more here.
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