Accessibility Tools
What should be done and how it can be done.
A framework is like the scaffolding that supports a building while it is under construction. It is the safe place from which the builders, the carpenters, the plumbers, the painters can work to realise the plans for the building. It is so important for the work to proceed, but in the end the building must be able to stand on its own. Lived Experience (Peer) Workers are the owner builders of the mental health system.
They are also the planners and architects of ways of working where foundations are built on relationships and trust. The evidence for peer work is compelling and the need for it to develop in a planned, systematic and well supported way is essential. The South Eastern NSW Lived Experience (Peer) Work Framework (the Framework) has come as the first action of the South Eastern NSW Regional Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan and for this reason alone it is an historic, important and living document. This is the first such Framework in Australia and while it was developed as our regional plan it is also intended that the Framework informs and assists the development of other such Frameworks across NSW and Australia.
In 2017, the National Association of Peer Supporters (N.A.P.S.) leadership became aware of growing member concerns about supervision contradicting or conflicting with core peer support values. In response, N.A.P.S. established a work group that revised the association’s 2013 National Practice Guidelines for Peer Supporters to include specific guidance to supervisors (i.e., the National Practice Guidelines for Peer Specialists and Supervisors).
The new guidelines are not intended to address administrative or other basic functions of supervision; instead, they offer expertise and practical guidance to supervisors of peer support workers in understanding the core values of mutual support and managing the complexities of the non-clinical role in settings that may have different values and priorities.
The guidelines will help support the Lived Experience workforce through providing formalised guidance for governments, employers and the Lived Experience workforce about support structures required to sustain and grow the workforce. Although local and regional lived experience workforce frameworks exist, the development of national guidelines will ensure consistency across Australia.
This study sought a clearer understanding of organizational mechanisms reinforcing effective peer employment and organizational change from the perspectives of peer workers, non-peer staff and management in multidisciplinary mental health and substance use recovery services. Findings were used to develop a model for organizational best practice for peer employment and associated organizational change to promote recovery-oriented and person-directed services.
Qualitative research was undertaken, involving 132 people participating in 14 focus groups and eight individual interviews. These people were employed across five U.S. multidisciplinary organizations providing mental health and substance use recovery services and deemed by a panel of experts to provide effective employment of peer workers. Study findings include the articulation of an interactive working model of best practice, comprising organizational commitment, organizational culture and effective organizational strategies necessary for a "whole-of-organization" approach to support authentic peer work and enable organizational transformation, to actualize recovery-oriented values and person-driven services. Strategies include Human Resources engagement, peers in positions of senior organizational authority, recurring whole of workforce training, along with peer training and peer-led supervision. Findings suggest whole-of-organization commitment, culture and practice are essential for the organizational transformation needed to support effective employment of peers in multidisciplinary environments.
This document is structured to provide a brief overview of the collective Lived Experience workforce and Lived Experience work, followed by the essentials of position descriptions that authentically represent Lived Experience practice. A detailed guide to Lived Experience roles and position description development is provided, along with examples and practical considerations from Lived Experience workers, employers, and evidence-based literature.
Designed as a companion to the National Lived Experience (Peer) Workforce Development Guidelines (the National Development Guidelines), this guide is a resource for designing clear and effective position descriptions that align with and reflect Lived Experience concepts, values and principles; and accurately reflect Lived Experience work. It clearly distinguishes the uniqueness of designated personal (consumer) and family/carer (support) Lived Experience roles and emphasises the importance of position descriptions in addressing role clarity. It is intended this guide will support organisations to develop Lived Experience role descriptions and support Lived Experience workers to articulate and advocate for roles that are authentically informed by Lived Experience practice. It is designed both as a guide for new employers of Lived Experience workers, and as a resource for all managers, colleagues, policy developers and funders to increase understanding of Lived Experience roles.
The National Mental Health Consumer and Carer Forum and the National Primary Health Network Mental Health Lived Experience Engagement Network acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands and waters on which we work and live on across Australia. We recognise their continuing connection to land, waters, culture and community. We pay our respects to Elders past and present.
“A lived experience recognises the effects of ongoing negative historical impacts and or specific events on the social and emotional wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It encompasses the cultural, spiritual, physical, emotional and mental wellbeing of the individual, family or community.
“People with lived or living experience of suicide are those who have experienced suicidal thoughts, survived a suicide attempt, cared for someone through a suicidal crisis, been bereaved by suicide or having a loved one who has died by suicide, acknowledging that this experience is significantly different and takes into consideration Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples ways of understanding social and emotional wellbeing.” - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Lived Experience Centre
We welcome Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to this site and invite them to provide any feedback or items for inclusion.
We also recognise people with lived and living experience of mental ill-health and recovery and the experience of people who are carers, families, kin, or supporters.