Regional Understanding & Planning Sessions

Bookings for all Regional sessions are now closed.

Supporting Sustainable & Authentic Lived-Living Experience Workforce Development

The Regional Understanding and Planning Sessions equip leaders with the knowledge needed to support the growth of a sustainable and authentic Lived-Living Experience workforce.

Building on foundational ‘bedrock’ orientation training, these sessions provide:
✅ Critical insights to inform an evidence-based approach
✅ Guidance on organisational readiness and cultural change management
✅ Practical steps to embed Lived-Living Experience workforces effectively

A Region-Specific Focus

With a priority on rural and remote areas, these sessions offer a space for information-sharing, exploration, and engagement to:

🔹 Increase understanding and appreciation of Lived-Living Experience work
🔹 Develop shared language and concepts to empower workforce development
🔹 Advance organisational and regional readiness
🔹 Facilitate collaborative discussions to shape local strategies
🔹 Embed Lived-Living practices to enhance workplace culture and psychological safety
🔹 Identify regional needs, interests, and gaps specific to different locations across Queensland

Program Details

📍 10 Cohorts across diverse regions
📅 Two live online sessions per cohort
🕒 Each session: 2 x 2.5 hours

Session One: Deepens knowledge
Session Two: Focuses on discussion and initial strategies for ‘what’s next’

⏳ Delivered at least 3 months apart to allow time for reflection and planning.

Expert-Led Training

👩‍🏫 Dr. Louise Byrne (Personal/Consumer Perspective)
👩‍🏫 Dr. Melissa Chapman (Family/Carer Perspective)

Regional Session Dates

Bookings for all Regional sessions are now closed.

The Lived Experience Training program, developed by Louise Byrne, is a transformative opportunity to enhance understanding and capacity regarding Lived Experience workforces. This training provides both foundational and advanced knowledge to drive organisational readiness. I think this training is the missing link so many of us have been looking for! Authentic, no jargon, includes information on the background so you can really understand this workforce and support them for even better outcomes across the board. Transform, improve, grow, thrive.

"I did the [orientation] course and it took me just under an hour, I felt the content was pitched just right to be informative and form as good basis of Lived Experience. The landing page is straight to the point and clear, the information provided in each section is comprehensive once opened. I think you have done an awesome job with this, congratulations on such a significant innovation." James Hill - Mental Health Manager, Energy Queensland

The orientation course was made available to our entire National Leadership Team and was a fantastic way to build a shared foundation and language. The content was easy to navigate and really helped demystify some of the core concepts and set us up as a leadership team to undertake the Foundational Knowledge session to deepen our understanding and being to contemplate application and implementation. Thanks Louise and Team, this is fantastic training and couldn’t recommend more highly.

Lived Experience Training acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the unceded lands upon which we live and work. We are grateful to past and present Elders for their cultural knowledge and deep connection to land, sea and community. We pay our deep and heartfelt respects to these essential leaders and thank them for their guidance. Always was, always will be, Aboriginal land.

For a definition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Lived Experience, please go to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Lived Experience Centre

Dr. Louise Byrne

Dr Louise Byrne is a leading international expert on Lived and Living Experience, acknowledged as a thought-leader in workforce development and the change management strategies required to build authentic, effective and impactful Lived Experience (Peer) workforces. Louise’s name is synonymous with highest quality, evidence-informed work, setting benchmarks for best practice, and enhancing understanding of authentic Lived Experience principles and practice.

Louise’s work is informed by her personal (consumer) Lived and Living Expertise and her experience in a diverse range of designated work roles across sectors and settings since 2005.

Louise held one of the earliest full-time Lived Experience academic positions in Australia and for seven years led the co-ordination, design and teaching of an online Lived Experience led course – teaching personal recovery concepts to thousands of undergraduate and post-graduate nursing students. Significant empirical research found the training had transformative impacts on the attitudes of students towards people with lived experience.

Louise trained in Intentional Peer Support, and since 2010 has led an internationally ground-breaking body of research on Lived Experience workforce development, culminating in numerous frameworks, policies and models including the Australian ‘National Lived Experience (Peer) Workforce Development Guidelines’. Louise is a Fulbright alumni, has been awarded multiple research fellowships, and holds an Associate Professor Adjunct position at Yale University.

Louise’s program of research has created a theory of change for how to advance understanding, respect and leadership opportunities for the Lived and Living Experience workforces.