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Late last month Sacred Heart Mission held its inaugural Advocacy Forum, where we explored the topic of homelessness in Australia. We know that homelessness is the result of deep, complex root causes like family violence, mental ill-health, trauma and poverty and systems not working as they should. With lived experience leadership at the core, we can reimagine those systems and create meaningful, lasting change. Lee, from EAGLE (Executive Advisory Board on Lived Experience), spoke at the forum about the importance of having lived experience embedded into processes and true involvement.
My name is Lee, and I am an inaugural member of EAGLE, the Lived Experience Advisory Group for Sacred Heart Mission.
I stand before you not just as a representative of this group, but as a person who has navigated the very systems we are here to improve.
My journey has given me a unique perspective, one that is often missing from the boardrooms and policy papers that has classically shaped our response to homelessness.
The creation of EAGLE at Sacred Heart Mission is a testament to an organisation’s willingness to listen and to evolve. But I want to be clear:
Simply having a lived experience group is not enough.
The persistent challenge we face is the risk of falling into ‘tokenism’ – the belief, that having us in the room is the same as truly hearing us. It is not!!
We are more than a footnote in a grant application, or a powerful story for a public event.
Our lived experience is our professional expertise, and it must be valued as such.
For our participation to be truly meaningful, it requires a fundamental shift in culture.
First, we need to move from consultation to co-creation.
Don’t bring us in to validate a program that’s already been designed.
Bring us in at the start, when the first ideas are being discussed.
We are not just service recipients; we are innovators with firsthand knowledge of what works and what doesn’t.
Second, meaningful engagement requires shared governance.
This means our voices must have equal weight in the decision-making process.
It’s about more than just offering advice; it’s about having the power to shape strategic direction, to influence resource allocation, and, to hold the organisation accountable.
And finally, it requires a two-way street.
Sharing our experiences is a significant emotional and personal investment. It’s also laden with trauma and difficult re-lived experiences that must be treated with care and stewardship.
For our time and expertise to be genuinely valued, it must be fairly compensated.
This sends a powerful message of respect and partnership, transforming our involvement from a volunteer role into a genuine collaboration.
The work of Eagle is just beginning, and it holds the promise of a better way.
It’s a model of genuine partnership where those with lived experience are not just consulted, but are co-creators and decision-makers in the solutions, that affect their lives and the lives of others.
I believe this is how we create truly impactful and compassionate change.
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