— Tools, Guidelines & Frameworks

Elevating Lived Experience Expertise: A Framework for the NSW Health Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Peer (Lived Experience) Workforce (2025) was launched on 16 October 2025 by The Hon. Rose Jackson, MLC, Minister for Mental Health. The Framework is intended for use by NSW Health Local Health Districts, Specialty Health Networks and the Ministry of Health. It provides clear guidance to support, develop and grow the Peer Workforce across NSW Health mental health and suicide prevention services.

It reflects a commitment to recovery-oriented care and acknowledges the vital role of the Peer Workforce. Peer workers draw upon their personal lived experience of mental health challenges or emotional distress, personal recovery, or experience of suicidal crisis, to provide authentic, empathetic support to others on their recovery journey. The Framework outlines the discipline-specific values and principles of peer work, scope of practice, supervision, training and workforce development strategies.

This framework is part of a suite of five discipline frameworks for the lived and living experience workforces in Victoria:

• The Mental Health Consumer Lived Experience Workforce Discipline Framework (Victoria) • The Mental Health Family Carer Lived Experience Workforce Discipline Framework (Victoria) • The Harm Reduction Lived and Living Experience Peer Workforce Discipline Framework (Victoria) • The Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) Lived Experience Workforce Discipline Framework (Victoria) • The Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) Family Lived Experience Workforce Discipline Framework (Victoria)

This framework is part of a suite of five discipline frameworks for the lived and living experience workforces in Victoria:

• The Mental Health Consumer Lived Experience Workforce Discipline Framework (Victoria) • The Mental Health Family Carer Lived Experience Workforce Discipline Framework (Victoria) • The Harm Reduction Lived and Living Experience Peer Workforce Discipline Framework (Victoria) • The Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) Lived Experience Workforce Discipline Framework (Victoria) • The Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) Family Lived Experience Workforce Discipline Framework (Victoria)

The Shared Power Shared Recovery paper is a global perspective on the promise of Lived Experience-Peer Leadership from the Lived Experience and Peer Leadership Match cohort held at the Global Leadership Exchange Conference in June 2024, in Heiloo, Netherlands. Peers, allies and organisations across many countries offered their time, insight, hope, and stories.

This Checklist aims to outline common core elements for successful implementation of peer work and informed planning, thereby creating work environments that are fair and equitable for all concerned. It identifies strategies to address the potential pitfalls and cultural challenges with ongoing implementation of the peer work role. It is essential and indeed a responsibility that organisations invest time to understand how best to implement and work alongside the peer workforce.

Whilst this checklist focuses on peer workers providing direct support to people in contact with services and families, carers and kin, the lived experience workforce also includes advocacy and representative roles, training and research roles, and leadership roles.