Webinar: Towards meaningful engagement: Embedding the lived expertise of victims and survivors in the co-production of research, policy and practice

Disclaimer: ANROWS webinars bring together a diverse range of speakers on a particular topic, informed by the evidence base, lived expertise, and policy and practice knowledge. The views expressed by speakers or other third parties in ANROWS webinars and any subsequent materials are those of the speaker or third party and not, necessarily, of ANROWS.

Victims and survivors of gender-based violence are increasingly being engaged in the co-production of research, policy and practice. The aim of engaging victims and survivors is to ensure that the work of the domestic and family violence (DFV) sector benefits from their insights and meets their needs. However, there can often be a gap between the promise of co-production and what is delivered in practice.

This webinar is invaluable to anyone in the DFV sector wanting to embed lived expertise in the co-production of research, policy and practice. It unpacks new research which explores the role of victims and survivors in developing policy and best practice mechanisms for engagement. Panellists discuss co-production and co-design in research, policy and practice, including how barriers can be overcome and opportunities for best practice.

This discussion will be facilitated by Lula Dembele (Survivor Advocate & Co-Founder of the Independent Collective of Survivors) with:

• Geraldine Bilston, Senior Project Officer, Quality and Risk Program and Service Development Branch, Family Safety Victoria
• Nicole Lee, Survivor Advocate
• Dr Lisa Wheildon, Monash University
• Shirleen Campbell, Co-coordinator of The Tangentyere Women’s Family Safety Group

Presenters

Nicole Lee
Nicole is a dedicated voice for disabled women and abuse survivors and a determined campaigner for the prevention of violence against women. Alongside advocating for safer mental health and recovery pathways for women with mental illness and trauma, Nicole is completing a Master of Social Work at La Trobe University. She is currently the President of People with Disabilities Australia.

Dr Lisa Wheildon
Dr Lisa Wheildon is a researcher in criminology at Monash University and RMIT University. Lisa’s PhD research focused on the role of victims and survivors of gender-based violence in the co-production of public policy. Lisa is currently researching the effectiveness of user control/safety features on social media services and dating apps, and technology-facilitated abuse, including technology-facilitated coercive control and workplace sexual harassment. These projects have involved sensitive interviews and focus groups with young people (13 to15 years of age), First Nations peoples, LGBTQ people and intersex people, people with disability, migrants and refugees, and victims and survivors of gender-based violence. Previously, Lisa helped establish Our Watch, the national foundation for preventing violence against women and children, where she led the development of the organisation’s name and brand, the National Media Engagement project, and the youth social marketing campaign The Line. Lisa also has considerable experience working with and within government, having worked at an executive level in the Victorian state government, providing relevant, evidence-based advice to senior executives and Ministers. She is currently the Early Career Researcher Representative on the Committee of Management of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology and a moderator of the Power to Persuade social policy blog.

Geraldine Bilston
Geraldine Bilston is currently working as Senior Project Officer at Family Safety Victoria where she has worked on projects including the Family Violence Lived Experience Strategy, Embedding Lived Experience in Research, and The Orange Door Client Partnership Strategy. Geraldine was Deputy Chair of the Victim Survivors’ Advisory Council between 2020 and 2022. She completed her Graduate Certificate in Family Violence in 2021 and is currently undertaking a Master of Policy and Politics. Geraldine is a board member of Kara Family Violence Service and is passionate about seeing the use of lived experience in the family violence reforms progress.

Shirleen Campbell
Shirleen Campbell is a Warlpiri, Anmatyerre, Arrernte and Luritja woman from Mparntwe (Alice Springs), Northern Territory. Shirleen is the co-coordinator of the Tangentyere Women’s Family Safety Group (TWFSG), a strong advocate for the rights of Aboriginal women and children living in town camps across Mparntwe and is passionate about two-way learning. The TWFSG lead culturally safe primary prevention campaigns in Mparntwe, which challenge the gendered drivers of domestic and family violence and racialised sexism. In 2019, Shirleen directed a film about the work of the Tangentyere Women’s Family Safety Group called Not Just Numbers. In 2020, Shirleen was the recipient of the NT Local Hero Award in the Australia Day Awards. Shirleen is a member of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Council for the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022–2032.

Facilitated by:

Lula Dembele
Lula Dembele is a specialist in gender relations and anti-patriarchal systems change. She’s a passionate survivor advocate for victims and survivors of childhood sexual abuse and childhood and adult domestic violence. Combining lived experience and professional expertise in strategic policy and gender mainstreaming, Lula has dedicated herself to working on structural and cultural change to end violence against women. In 2018, Lula established the Accountability Matters Project to reframe domestic violence from being seen as a “women’s issue” and to drive national efforts to reduce “men’s use of sexual, domestic and family violence”. Lula is co-founder of the Independent Collective of Survivors (ICOS), a national group of survivor advocates who support lived experience advocacy that pushes for social and systemic change. Lula has led work in transformative practice to create gender equitable workplaces across Victoria, is a member of the National Plan Advisory Group, a Bravehearts Ambassador, and recently commenced as Director of Lived Expertise and Advocacy for the Illawarra Women’s Health Centre – Women’s Trauma Recovery Centre Project.