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Lived experience advisory committee

DATE RANGE FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST: April 13th until May 12th 2023

Emma’s Project is a survivor-driven effort from the Australian Childhood Foundation. It exists to end child sexual abuse by placing the weight of responsibility on adults, who must be better informed and equipped in order to protect children.

The lived experience advisory committee (LEAC) for the Project exists to provide continued further insights and feedback which will help to improve and strengthen the Project strategy, which has been built on wisdom shared by almost 360 survivors and those close to them, in our initial survey.

The LEAC exists to ensure that the Project and any campaigns, resources and programs within it best represents a diverse range of survivors and experiences, in order to ensure they are most effective in their mission to help children of all backgrounds and experiences.

To apply, please fill out the application form at the bottom of this page. Before applying, please ensure you have read and understood all of the information on this page. If you have any questions, please contact us.

As a lived experience committee member you will:

  • Bring your lived experience expertise to inform the project, ensuring it is effective and inclusive
  • Provide feedback, advice and insights to the Foundation, to influence how existing planned campaigns and resources from this Project can be improved, altered or extended
  • Work collaboratively with other members and the foundation to strengthen the Project
  • Additionally, committee members will be offered opportunities to be involved in public-facing campaigns and media efforts. However, this is not mandatory, and committee members are able to be involved anonymously.

Please review the position descriptions further down on this page for more information.

All LEAC meetings are held virtually over Microsoft Teams as video calls.

LEAC members are paid for their time and expertise. Refer to the payment schedule below.

Your membership can remain confidential. For instance, you may use a pseudonym to protect your anonymity if this is more comfortable for you. This pseudonym could also be used in written reports and other materials produced by the Foundation, should a quote from you be used with your permission as part of the Project.

The selection process will be guided by a range of factors including:

  • An ability to reflect openly on what could have helped you when you were a child, and to translate your lived experience into advice which can improve the Project
  • A willingness to work as a member of a diverse team, including sharing views and ideas, even if they oppose your own. Members must be able to listen to different perspectives and collaborate to form group positions on key issues and concepts for the Foundation to use as guidance.
  • Agreement with the statement that it is possible to prevent child sexual abuse, and that to do so we must transform adult beliefs, knowledge and systems, rather than children themselves.

We are seeking a maximum of ten survivors for this committee.

Australian Childhood Foundation will ensure a range of lived experiences of child sexual abuse are reflected in the committee, in order to make it most effective. We encourage applications from people of all genders, ages, cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds, as well as people who identify as of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander background, as part of the LGBTQI+ community, as migrants and people with disabilities.

Additionally, we aim to include a wide range of survivor experiences in the committee, as these different experiences will bring unique insights to the project. As such, we encourage applications from people who survived abuse in immediate and extended family, in an institutional setting, while in government care, by young and old people of all genders.

You can apply to be on the LEAC if you:

  • Have lived experience of child sexual abuse
  • Contributed to our past Project survey
  • Live in Australia
  • Have the time and ability to read written documents prior to attending 3.5 hour meetings which are held quarterly (on average: some meetings may be sooner or later than every three months)
  • Have access to email and a computer with a camera for online meetings. Please let us know if this poses any issues for you that may be able to be resolved.

During the application process, you will be invited to disclose personal information about yourself. You are not obliged to disclose personal information if you do not want to, but it can help us with the committee-building process. We invite you to share information about how your inclusion in the committee would ensure the LEAC is diverse in experiences, backgrounds and identities.

Expressions of interest
April 13, 2023 – May 12, 2023

Online information session
April 20, 2023 (11 AM Melbourne time)

Selected members notified and provided reading materials for the first meeting
May 24, 2023

First LEAC meeting
June 3 or 4, 2023

Check your eligibility
Please make sure that you meet the eligibility requirements of the LEAC before applying to be a part of it.

Review the self-reflection tool
Before submitting an expression of interest, you can reflect on whether you are ready to participate in the LEAC in a way that is safe and constructive, considering the questions in the self-reflection tool first.

Submit your expression of interest
Expressions of interest include some details about you, as well as questions from the self-reflection tool, which help us to build a LEAC that is safe and constructive for everyone involved, and effective for the children we work to protect.

Please note, we will also refer to your submission to our past Project survey as part of the application process.

Expressions of interest close on May 12, 2023. Applications are treated confidentially.

Successful applications
Members are formally selected by the Foundation for a two-year term.

Background
Australian Childhood Foundation’s review of research on the development, execution and impact of lived experience committees shows us that applicants and members are strongly motivated by a willingness to help protect children from sexual abuse they faced themselves.

While LEAC meetings do not require or exist as spaces to share the details of abuse experienced by members, in order to improve our project based on lived experience, reflection on member experiences will be necessary. This work can understandably be challenging and sometimes uncomfortable for people who have experienced trauma and abuse. It is important applicants reflect on if they feel ready and safe to be a part of this kind of committee.

It is also important to note that while LEAC members will be debriefed after meetings and supplied with contact information for support, the LEAC is not a therapeutic group, nor a substitute for counselling or other forms of therapeutic intervention. The LEAC exists to inform and improve advocacy and child sexual abuse prevention efforts.

LEAC members are encouraged to ensure that they have personal and professional recovery and healing support in place during their term on the LEAC. If you struggle to find professional support, please let us know this in your application, so that we may support you in finding this support through organisations such as Blue Knot. Members will also have completely anonymous access to the Foundation’s employee assistance program counselling.

Self reflection tool questions
This self reflection tool may help you in determining your goals and readiness to participate in the LEAC. We encourage you to reflect on the following questions to help consider if this work is right for you, before deciding to submit your Expression of interest.

Some of these questions will also be included in the Expression of interest submission for the LEAC, helping us to create a safe, constructive and effective environment.

  • What motivates you to be involved in the LEAC?
  • What do you want to achieve from your participation in the LEAC?
  • Have you had sufficient time since your experience to feel ready and safe to participate, and to reflect openly on these, in relation to the Project and how it could be improved and altered?
  • Have you spent time considering how your experience may relate to the experiences of others, and how we can better protect children with this information before?
  • What do you do for self-care?
  • What support systems do you have in place? (These can be formal such as services and informal like community, friends and companion animals). Is this support able to sustain your involvement in the LEAC?
  • Do you understand the time commitment expected of this role and will you be able to commit?
  • Do you have any legal or privacy considerations that might impact on your capacity to participate on the LEAC?

Members of the LEAC are paid for their valuable contributions and time. The below table outlines payment rates for people with lived experience who provide advice and feedback on the Foundation’s project. The sitting fee is aligned with hourly rates paid to those contributing to other lived experience programs across the not-for-profit space.

This image defines the LEAC payment schedule. It can be summarised as: LEAC sitting fee (Attending formal ~quarterly meetings of the LEAC), payment for meetings (inc. prep time) of 3.5 hours and under: $50. The standard hourly rate for Involvement in ad hoc media and public engagement, storytelling to support public communications. (Note: this is not mandatory for members) is $50. Activities not applicable for payment are: Event attendance as an audience member, reading documentation prior to meetings (the meeting rate takes this into account), debriefing sessions.

*The Foundation acknowledges that a commitment to this committee may take up a significant amount of your time outside of standard working hours. To ensure that you are not out-of-pocket due to this commitment, all members will be financially reimbursed for their time and wisdom. We understand that some survivors may feel uncomfortable with payment in relation to the subject matter of this committee. As part of our onboarding process, we’ll check in with each member to discuss individual preferences confidentially. Above we have outlined payment rates for activities so you can make an informed decision.

Further information

  • Sitting/participation fees have been segmented into 3.5 hour blocks, with maximum payment capped at the daily rate (eight-hours or less). The sitting/participation fee may include reading papers, attending pre-brief sessions, telephone calls, emails, meeting attendance and a post brief meeting.
  • ^ Hourly rates are aligned to rates for other lived experience initiatives within government and the community sector. The hourly rate is fixed to ensure participants in a group are paid the same amount, and for consistency across the activities. There is a minimum payment of two hours for online meetings. Hourly rates are paid to LEAC members for the activities outlined in the table.
  • The number of hours assigned to an activity will be discussed and agreed to in advance to ensure expectations and payment are clear prior to a LEC member undertaking any work. For example, agreement would be reached in advance for attending a workshop to include 1-hour pre-reading and 2.5 hour workshop, 3.5 hours in total.
  • LEAC appointments are sessional in nature: appointees are not expected to work a set number of days per week.

Mechanisms for payment

  • LEAC members are appointed as sessional members and paid via the accounting team of the Foundation.

Title
Australian Childhood Foundation’s Project Lived Experience Committee Member

Employment type
Session, fixed term

Payment fees
Refer to payment schedule above

Accountabilities

LEAC members will be required to:

  • Provide insight and advice to Australian Childhood Foundation which helps to improve, extend or alter the Project, based on their lived experienceWork as a member of a team which may not have cohesive perspectives, to consider what will most effectively protect children from sexual abuse
  • Attend quarterly meetings, having read and considered provided documentation, ready for discussion participation.

Personal qualities

Important personal qualities for LEAC members include:

  • Ability to translate your lived experience of child sexual abuse into advice and feedback on the Project’s roadmap and specific campaigns, resources and tools within it, in order to make them as strong and effective as possible
  • Willingness to work as a member of a team, including listening to and respecting different perspectives, being open minded and curious, and collaborating to form collective positions on key issues that Australian Childhood Foundation will use as guidance

Members from diverse communities 

Australian Childhood Foundation will ensure a range of lived experiences of child sexual abuse are reflected in the committee, in order to make it most effective. We encourage applications from people of all genders, ages, cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds, as well as people who identify as of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander background, as part of the LGBTQI+ community, as migrants and people with disabilities.

Additionally, we aim to include a wide range of survivor experiences in the committee, as these different experiences will bring unique insights to the project. As such, we encourage applications from people who survived abuse in immediate and extended family, in an institutional setting, while in government care, by young and old people of all genders.

Terms of the role

The Project’s lived experience committee is comprised of no more than 10 people with lived experience of child sexual abuse.

Members are appointed for a two-year term.

Purpose
Emma’s Project is a survivor-driven effort from Australian Childhood Foundation. It exists to end child sexual abuse by placing the weight of responsibility on adults, who must be better informed and equipped in order to protect children.

The lived experience advisory committee (LEAC) for the Project exists to provide continued further insights and feedback which will help to improve and strengthen the Project strategy built based on wisdom shared by almost 360 survivors in our initial survey.

The LEAC exists to ensure that the Project and any campaigns, resources and programs within it best represents a diverse range of survivors and experiences, in order to ensure they are most effective in their mission to help children of all backgrounds and experiences.

Role and scope
The key role of the LEAC is to provide feedback on existing Project campaigns and tools and the overarching roadmap, in order to improve, alter and extend upon them. This feedback will help to make the Project as effective as possible at preventing child sexual abuse by addressing adults, rather than expecting children to learn to protect themselves.

These Project works have been created based on survivor feedback through our survey, and will be altered, reworked and improved rather than replaced unless a committee majority agrees that a project will be ineffective or flawed.

Reporting
Detailed meeting minutes will be kept by the Foundation as a means of reporting on the discussions and feedback within a meeting. Written feedback is also accepted but not required from members. Transcript recordings from meetings will be securely kept with permission from all members.

The Foundation will provide updates to the LEAC on the Project and how the contribution of members has improved it.

Forward agenda
LEAC meetings for the first few quarters (on average, some meetings may be within slightly shorter or longer time frames) are briefly outlined as below:

1. A first meeting to introduce the LEAC and its purpose. Members will be provided with reading prior, to aid in discussion around renaming the project to a more collective namesake, as well as on the roadmap and any notes on it.

2. Meeting to discuss our (mandatory) public education and child rights campaigns, the communications surrounding it, and what tools and topics should be covered within it. Prior reading for review will be provided.

3. Meeting to review and provide feedback on a first draft course related to child sexual abuse prevention, built on the wisdom of survivors. Draft will be provided for review and consideration prior.

Additional meeting agenda details will be provided to accepted members, with updates as the Project progresses.

The Foundation leads the preparation of the group’s forward agenda for engagement, as well as management and coordination across the organisation for its implementation.

The Foundation respects the time and expertise of LEAC members and will consult on issues where there is a clear need and scope to influence change in response to members’ insights.

Aboriginal Self-determination and intersectionality
In providing advice on child sexual abuse prevention initiatives all participants are expected to promote Aboriginal self-determination, embed cultural safety, provide advice from an intersectional lens, and focus on the needs and experience of victim-survivors and people who use services.

Membership
Members are appointed by the Foundation, and selected in order to reflect a diverse community of survivors of child sexual abuse, who are able to reflect on their experience to provide insights that can improve the Project’s efficacy.

Membership diversity considers both diversity of survivor experience and broader backgrounds and the lived experiences associated. Please review the ‘members from diverse communities’ section of the member position description.

Members are appointed to ensure the composition of the group reflects the diversity of the community. While members may provide advice on behalf of members of their community or from the perspective of their identity group, they are not expected to assume a formal representative role on behalf of their communities. We recognise that every survivor has a unique experience which is important to be heard and understood.

Members are appointed for a two-year term.

Confidentiality
Sensitive information that LEAC members share will be treated as confidential. Information will only be used for the purpose stated in the consultation and the Foundation will seek consent to share feedback more broadly. In the Foundation’s analysis of LEAC advice, generic terms will be used so that LEAC members cannot be easily identified.

Meetings
LEAC meetings are held quarterly (approximately). Other meetings may be organised out of session if required.

Payment
Please refer to the payment schedule above.

Media and social media
The Chair (Emma Hakansson) can make comments in the media on behalf of the LEAC. Committee members should not make public statements to the media on behalf of the LEAC, or on matters regarding the LEAC, unless invited to do so by the Foundation, as will occur. LEAC members are welcome to publicly share their membership and their personal view on their membership.

If you have any questions about the positions, processes, safety or privacy, please contact us here. 

Australian Childhood Foundation acknowledges victim survivors and the difficulty that can come with reflecting on experiences of child sexual abuse. We are very grateful for every applicant who participated in our earlier survey, which guides our ongoing Project work.

If you need support coping with feelings that may arise during the application process, this is always available.

Visit the BlueKnot Foundation or ring them on 1300 657 380.
You can also contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636

If you are aware of a child who is risk or facing child sexual abuse today and is not safe, contact the Child Protection Services in your area or ring 000.

Australian Childhood Foundation is committed to protecting personal information provided by you in accordance with our privacy policy. Read more about the Foundation’s privacy policy here. 

The information you provide will be made available to a small number of staff at the Foundation, including Emma and some other members of the Project’s steering group, who are involved in the recruitment process for the lived experience committee.

The collection of sensitive information on whether you are part of a diverse community group will be used to ensure that the LEAC includes a diverse range of voices and experiences of child sexual abuse.

By submitting an application, you consent to Australian Childhood Foundation. collecting and using any personal and sensitive information which you provide in your responses for the purposes outlined above.

If your submission includes any information about your lived experience, racial or ethnic membership, sexuality, religious beliefs or other personal information, it is understood that you consent for us to collect this data. However, applicants are in no way obliged to disclose this information.

You are entitled to access and correct your personal information. If you would like to access or correct the information you have provided, please contact us by email at support@childhood.org.au. In some cases, requests for personal information may be handled in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic).

Submit your application

If you’ve read all of the information about the lived experience committee, are eligible to apply and have considered the self reflection tool questions provided, you are ready to submit your expression of interest application to join the LEAC as a member.

LEAC - Application - Emma's Project

Need support?

If you are aware of a child who is being abused and is not safe, contact the Child Protection Services in your area or ring 000.

If you or someone you care about is living with the effects of sexual abuse and violence, there is information and support available. Visit the BlueKnot Foundation or ring them on 1300 657 380.
You can also contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636