Career Pathways and Progression

Investing in career opportunities for Lived Experience (Peer) workforces benefits both organisations and the people they serve. Lived Experience (Peer) workers should not be limited to entry-level or front-line peer support roles. Instead, organisations should endeavour to provide opportunities for progression across different levels and aspects of the organisation.

Pathway from lived experience to leadership roles, created by Lived Experience Development Team at MHC

There are many ways people enter the Lived Experience (Peer) workforce. Pathways may begin through roles such as consumer, family, significant other, or Aboriginal Lived Experience (Peer) positions, through personal service use, community participation, advocacy, or education and research settings.

Not everyone will seek or value formal career progression, and all contributions are important. Pathways should therefore enable people to grow in ways that align with their skills, values, and aspirations whether that means deepening expertise within a current role or exploring new opportunities. For example:

• Consumer, and Family and Significant Lived Experience (Peer) Workers may continue developing within peer support roles, move into service coordination, management, systemic advocacy, or policy and service development.
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Lived Experience roles may lead or contribute to culturally grounded approaches, community-led healing, and reform.

Career opportunities for Lived Experience (Peer) roles should exist across government and non-government sectors that impact people with lived experience including mental health, alcohol and other drugs, suicide prevention, justice, education, housing, community services, advocacy, peak bodies, and other systems that influence wellbeing.

Integration of Lived Experience Roles in Organisations

It is important that Lived Experience roles be included in all aspects of a workplace’s business including agency committees, recruitment panels and staff induction sessions. Lived Experience perspectives bring strategic value when included in decision-making at all stages of service design and delivery, from planning and development to funding, budget allocation and evaluation processes.

There is a particular benefit in employing or consulting with people in Lived Experience roles within HR teams to inform policy, processes and workforce practices. This ensures that Lived Experience expertise is considered and applied at a foundational level across the organisation. Similarly, embedding lived experience perspectives in funding bodies, boards, and tendering processes strengthens transparency, accountability and outcomes.

Lived Experience also provides valuable contribution through the development, implementation, and evaluation of organisational policies, strategies, projects and services. This approach reflects best practice by ensuring that the voices of people with lived and living experience of mental health, alcohol and other drugs, suicide, and family or significant other perspectives are visible in every layer of organisational decision-making.^[1]

Developing and supporting pathways for Lived Experience leadership and management roles is essential to growing and strengthening the workforces. These roles should represent the breadth of lived experience perspectives to reflect the diversity of the community they serve. Building community of leaders across the sectors reduces the risk of tokenism and unsafe practices and creates authentic, values driven leadership.

Senior or Lived Experience leadership roles assist to^[2]:

• Develop a higher-skilled workforce
• Develop a workforce that is purposeful and has greater autonomy
• Retain experienced and skilled Lived Experience employees
• Provide Lived Experience leadership and greater capacity for change
• Provide ‘in-house’ Lived Experience-led supervision and training development

Considerations for Developing Lived Experience Leadership Roles

• Value diverse pathways into leadership: Recognise that Lived Experience (Peer) leaders may come through non-linear career journeys shaped by lived and living experience, community involvement, and other professional roles. These journeys are strengths, not barriers.
• Acknowledge transferable expertise: Many people bring leadership capabilities from other fields such as education, community development, advocacy, or project management. These skills add depth and adaptability to Lived Experience leadership.
• Recognise sector differences: Leadership in mental health and alcohol and other drugs may look different, reflecting each sector’s history, values, and workforce traditions. Role design and selection criteria should ensure that leadership is relevant to the context and workforce needs.
• Invest in growth: Provide training and professional development opportunities that build on existing strengths and prepare leaders for senior roles. This can include areas such as governance, project management, or strategy, alongside peer-specific learning and mentoring.