The Safe and Equal Expert Advisory Panel was established in 2021. Members of our panel are victim survivors of family violence who support the work of the peak and other organisations by applying their living expertise of family violence, systems navigation and journey, to advocate for improved services and systems.
The Safe and Equal Expert Advisory Panel is a formal mechanism to further embed the voice of lived experience at the peak and the family violence system in Victoria.The governance and leadership of specialist family violence services are ultimately accountable to victim survivors. This is part of the ongoing development of specialist family violence practice, which must always be informed by victim survivors’ own voice, lived experiences, knowledge and expertise.
In the Panel’s own words: the Safe and Equal Expert Advisory Panel is an authentic, safe, respectful and diverse space. We are experienced survivor advocates with diverse backgrounds and experiences, including different forms of family violence, experiences with the service system and intersecting identities. We bring different skills and multiple perspectives which is our strength. Together, we are motivated to change the narrative, challenge stereotypes and contribute to survivor informed and survivor led solutions to ending family violence.
We lead from within Safe and Equal to increase lived experience in the design, delivery and evaluation of the peak body. We strengthen and inform collective action and enable the peak to bring together different forms of advocacy.
When knowledge has been learned it can be patriarchal in nature and can be defined as right and wrong, but in this space, we have knowledge that is lived. There is no right and wrong. It is an experience of many things coming together.
Expert Advisory
Panel member