Transcript: Learning from people’s lived experience of adversity
Shelly, Lived Experience Network
So when we look back at how the lived experience network has come to be, it's really evolved over time and become so much more than we ever imagined it would be to begin with. It started out with just a few people getting together and then it became cemented as a lived experience network. And then we came out with titles for, you know, what our role was, and from there dealing with writing terms of reference and now doing all our consultations.

It's really kind of grown from just being a small idea to being a big network and being a, tight knit community.

Chloe, Lived Experience Network
Most of the sessions that we had at the beginning, we kind of just sat at the table from like, What is this? What are we doing? Like what's actually going to happen from this? And it wasn't until really I think the beginning of 2020 when we kind of had a lived experience network that we kind of had our membership.

And then we started with the terms of reference and lots and stuff that I actually sort of felt like, you know, this is actually going to go somewhere. It's not just a tick box. let's get your opinion. And I'd say you'll never hear it again because you're not in the systems that you get all the documents and everything.

Wei, Lived Experience Network
And that's right. I remember is very [...] intensive process like we meet probably every week, or couple of times every week.

Shelly, Lived Experience Network
When we're talking about our lived experience network, we did create a terms of reference and within that terms of reference, we outlined what our purpose was and what our goals were and how we saw ourselves and and the part that we would play within our systems change.

Jamie, Lived Experience Network
And that was where we had to think of a name for what to actually call it.

Wei, Lived Experience Network
Like, I think is not an easy thing for us to do it as a group because we all from different backgrounds with different lived experiences. So initially we don't really know what to do for the terms of references. I think it fascinated me several sessions to answer or that's not being. Now I think we come to a position, we understand what it's about and we actually view it yearly.

Jamie, Lived Experience Network
It was a lot of we gave information to the department, then the department did whatever they wanted to do with it and then came back to us to tell what they had done. But then as we became the lived experience network, we worked with the system directly now. And in that when we feed information in, it's sitting in the room with them.

We find out that day what's happening, what they're planning to do with it, how much is going to come out of it.

Lemy, Lived Experience Network
So we are getting slowly like changes we're making on everything we're making. Yes, it may not come as quick as we expect, but we have a long term goal. And at the end of the long term goal, there will be something really great to celebrate.

Chloe, Lived Experience Network
That's what I really like about being in the Lived Experience Network is every time we have a terms of reference or change of membership or even coming up with membership criteria or any of that we’re always involved, we don't just get told, Hey, by the way, it's the terms of reference. It's always, you know, Yasmine and Lisa, other people, from
DHS just come out and say, what do you think about this? Do you agree with it, should we add something, change it. Yeah, it's pretty, it's pretty cool experience.

Wei, Lived Experience Network
We pick have a lot of triggering words that probably other people would say, that's just normal but for us. We might think that's very triggering. So they listened and they are able to change the words. So feel it, is a very positive.

Chloe, Lived Experience Network
We meet maybe once fortnight but every single time we make. Yasmin brings something different. And, you know, we have like Flinders Uni coming and asking for our input into the social work curriculum. And we have. Well, do you remember doing that trainer framework with connected self when we did all the training and the feedback from that, and we literally got him to change his entire diagram because we said we don't like it.

And instead of going, yeah, okay, cool, but you're not going to see it, it doesn't matter. He went, Okay, cool. I'll change that. What you want.

Jamie, Lived Experience Network
As a group, we all got the child protection and volunteer of the year award.

Shelly, Lived Experience Network
And we were nominated amongst a lot of other people and we were fortunate enough to win in the first year. The child protection Awards were in South Australia.

Chloe, Lived Experience Network
So we're recognizing that we've done some good work and continue doing good work. And the fact that this exists and as a thing now means that when we finish in 12 months time, more people are going to come along and they'll have their own stuff to do. And it's not just going to, disappear.

Jamie, Lived Experience Network
We are bringing on the new people. We are staying on the mentors to help the new people because when we came here we didn't understand what was happening. So we kind of it took a few months before we were like, wait, now we fully understand how everything is working or actually doing how long it's actually going to take, not just we‚ are doing it now.

It's going to happen next week that it take the time and how long it takes and what areas are affecting what parts. so us staying on for that extra few months to help the new people really get an understanding as well as a really soft approach to bringing on the new recruits.

Wei, Lived Experience Network
I feel that one of the most and most a great pie we have is that we have mentors now. So like what Jamie's just doing and I'm here to to work alongside you to to navigate, to help her navigate how to get in, get involved, get involved. And even though for the first or meeting, meeting as a mentor I walk inside with you, so people few welcomed and included.

Chloe, Lived Experience Network
And that's one of the ways that we work really well is, you know, we only have a 12 month term, but we, in the network have worked really, really hard to make sure that we have a very, I guess, formulated terms of reference that it's all about like we all support each other. You know, we'll make sure that everyone feels welcome.

The terms of reference is that the membership is only 12 months, but then half the people leave and the other half stay on for a further six months. But our role is literally just to support the new people so that they feel as comfortable and as ready, I guess, to take on their own stuff as possible. And then we leave and we don't really leave because one of the funny little things that we've done is the lived experience alumni, which I think all of us really like the name of, which is Yasmin's idea.

And it's that, you know, we don't just finish up our 12 months and it's like, That's it. See you later. Bye bye. We stay on and being able to still be involved and come back in and not just be totally shut out. I think really the whole lived experience network is just so supportive and just, yeah, everyone really works really hard to make sure that we're all feeling like it is kind of like a family type thing.

Mirja, Lived experience network
I think for some of us to, we're kind of at a point where we feel comfortable now passing the baton along to someone else who can bring in fresh perspectives and ideas and and just get voices from other people in the community and feeling comfortable in doing that. And, you know, continuing on with my own journey.