Together for Better: Practice reflections and recommendations on embedding lived experience

While Together for Better focuses on actionable guidance, its recommendations remain grounded in the reflections and lived expertise that informed them. The resource is offered as a contribution to collective learning across the family violence sector and beyond, supporting dialogue, reflection and practice development rather than prescribing a single way forward.

Developed in close collaboration with survivor advocates, staff and board members, it brings together practice reflections and clear recommendations to strengthen how organisations work with lived experience. The recommendations are intended to be adapted, questioned and reshaped, recognising that embedding lived experience is ongoing, relational and context-specific work that requires care, readiness and accountability.

This resource is intended for:

• Organisations engaging with, or preparing to engage with, lived experience or survivor advocacy
• Survivor advocates and people working in lived experience roles
• CEOs, organisational leaders and boards
• Policymakers, funders, researchers and decision-makers seeking to embed lived expertise ethically and sustainably.

This resource supports you to:

• Reflect on organisational readiness to embed lived experience safely and meaningfully
• Strengthen understanding of survivor advocacy as a skilled, relational and systemic practice
• Identify common risks and harms associated with poorly embedded lived experience work
• Apply trauma- and violence-informed, culturally responsive approaches to survivor advocacy
• Use practical recommendations to guide organisational learning, change and accountability.