Lived experience in the workforce

Lived experience in the workforce refers to people who work in the sector as practitioners, leaders, advisors, researchers, administrators, students and in many other roles, who have experienced, or are experiencing, family violence or sexual assault. Or they may have experience of using the system or supporting someone close to them directly impacted by family violence or sexual assault.

Lived experience is a broad term that can be applied to other experiences and identities, such as gender, disability, sexuality and cultural background. For the purpose of this section, lived experience relates to family and sexual violence as described above.

The gendered nature of the sector and the prevalence of violence against women and family violence means that many practitioners will have their own lived experience of violence or sexual assault. Organisations and workplaces need to be sensitive to this reality and develop trauma-informed cultures that support such workforces.

Lived experience can be a motivating factor in choosing to work in the sector,^[1] as practitioners seek out purposeful and meaningful work which enables them to give back to their communities. This altruism and values-driven motivation is positive.

The family violence and sexual assault sectors were founded from lived experience. The sectors had their origins in the personal experiences of the women who established the first refuges, rape crisis centres and support services for women and children.

However, as the sector has developed, lived experience in the workforce has become less visible, with practitioners reporting they feel reluctant to disclose their own lived experience to their workplace for fear of negative consequences for their career.^[2]

Some practitioners have shared that when they joined organisations with cultures where their experiences were valued and embraced, they felt safe, supported, nurtured and understood.

Supervisors and workplaces can support practitioners with lived experience during supervision, and assist in the development of a positive workplace culture that values and embraces lived experience, by recognising that:

• practitioner lived experience is valuable, meaningful and a strength of the sector
• the decision to disclose one’s lived experience is a highly personal one. Some practitioners will choose not to disclose, or will share with certain work colleagues but not others
• practitioners should feel safe and respected whether they choose to disclose or not
• practitioners who choose not to disclose need to feel that lived experience is valued, respected and important as an input to their work, in a broader positive, workplace culture sense
• supervisors and leaders sharing their own lived experience stories can have a powerful impact. It can contribute a positive workplace culture in relation to lived experience and reduce the potential for shame. However, there is never an expectation that a person with lived experience must share it
• there is a high probability that supervisees will have their own lived experience, and supervisors need to be ‘sensitive to this reality’,^[3] using a trauma- and violence-informed approach during supervision
• practitioner lived experience can provide supervisees, teams and programs with additional insight about family violence, sexual assault and the system
• there needs to be a commitment to learning from other people’s lived experience, given no-one represents all victim survivors. Recognising this, supervisors can reflect on and be mindful of how their own lived experience may shape or impact their supervision approach
• practitioner lived experience, whether historical or current, informs and influences supervisee knowledge and practice in both explicit and implicit ways^[4]
• being the voice of lived experience can take an emotional toll and add to a practitioner’s workload
• practitioners with lived experience are so much more than their experience of family violence or sexual assault and it is important not to over-generalise or attribute their responses as being due to their lived experience
• supervision is key in keeping track of progress and determining further support needs, particularly for practitioners working towards mandatory minimum qualifications
• workplaces need to ensure infrastructure required to support practitioners with lived experience includes accessible recruitment and induction processes, appropriate supervision structures, and supports including Family Violence Leave and an EAP equipped to provide family violence counselling^[5]
• peer supervision and co-refection^[6] (which can occur in pairs or small groups) enables staff with lived experience to connect, learn from one another, build resilience and move towards goals
• workplace messaging, policies, and procedures, which include the voices of staff with lived experience, need to reflect the above.

Supervisors can provide support by recognising that:

• Lived experience is not only historical, but can also be current, with the impacts of family violence and sexual assault being ongoing or happening in real time. Practitioners will need understanding and support regarding this. Supervisors need to provide practitioners with choice and agency regarding next steps and they can refer to relevant policies regarding family violence leave and responding to family violence disclosures in the workplace.
• Sometimes practitioners can experience negative unconscious biases, judgement, and assumptions from colleagues after they share their lived experience. Supervision can provide space to discuss and address these underlying attitudes without fear of further backlash or judgement.
• The impacts of responding to family violence and sexual assault and working within the context of structural oppression and social injustice may bring up challenges or be traumatising for all practitioners, including those with lived experience. Supervisors need to be aware of these possibilities and assist practitioners to identify and make sense of what might be coming up for them in the workplace and take steps to engaging in external supports when required.
• Emotions are important sources of information and inform better case practice and decision making rather than a weakness.
• They need to ‘walk alongside’ their practitioners with lived experience and ask what support they require to set them up for success in the role.
• There needs to be discussions (and organisational guidelines) regarding the use of purposeful disclosure when working with clients. Supervision can be a useful forum to reflect on the reasons a practitioner believes it will benefit the client and to consider any unintended consequences that may arise.