Position Description

Lived Experience Project Lead

Role Specifics

Position | Lived Experience Project Lead

Location | A national remote role, available in every major Australian city (with no preference for any location).

FTE | Full time (1.0) fixed-term position until October 2026 - with flexible working arrangements available (eg. part-time).

Reporting to | Manager, Lived Experience Capability/Manager, Lived Experience Projects & Partnerships

Salary Range | $85,000 - $105,000 + superannuation + salary packaging options

Role Summary

The Lived Experience Project Lead will drive a range of projects and initiatives across the Lived Experience team, that centre, enable, and elevate the leadership and participation of people with Lived and Living Experience to shape advocacy, influence systems, and inform change across and beyond the National Centre.

Through trauma-responsive and inclusive engagement, this role fosters meaningful partnerships with survivors and victims of child sexual abuse, ensuring diverse voices are embedded in planning, decision-making, and systems change.

Who We Are

The National Centre for Action on Child Sexual Abuse

The National Centre for Action on Child Sexual Abuse (National Centre) The National Centre for Action on Child Sexual Abuse was established in November 2021 as a key recommendation of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. It is a symbol of hope and an essential vehicle for action for many victims and survivors of child sexual abuse. Its formation recognises the decades of advocacy by victims and survivors to be listened to, believed, validated, protected and ultimately supported to heal from the trauma they carry with them. Its focus extends beyond institutional child sexual abuse to abuse that occurs in the family, community and online.

The National Centre has woven the voices and experiences of victims and survivors into its very fabric. It acknowledges the strength and expertise that derives from their Lived and Living Experience of child sexual abuse. The National Centre recognises and honours the diversity of victims and survivors' experiences, identities and cultural backgrounds and their contributions to the common purpose of addressing child sexual abuse.

At the National Centre, we believe for victims and survivors to have the best opportunity to heal, they must feel safe to disclose and receive the necessary support that is non-stigmatising, appropriate to their needs and effective. Our purpose is to disrupt the dynamics that have failed to stop child sexual abuse from occurring, and prevented victims and survivors from being validated and supported.

Our values and behaviours

We are a purpose-driven organisation committed to creating a safer future for children and communities. We are committed to integrity, collaboration, innovation, and courage. Our team culture is inclusive, supportive, and focused on driving meaningful change.

Employees of the National Centre are required to demonstrate commitment to the organisation’s:

Diversity – we value an inclusive workplace that embraces diversity and strongly encourages applications from First Nations people, people with disability, people from the LGBTIQ+ community, and people from culturally diverse backgrounds.

Integrated Management Systems – established Quality Management and Workplace Health and Safety Management Processes.

Values – better together, trustworthy, driving action, inclusive, bold.

Privacy and Confidentiality - managing and maintaining confidential information, records and data in line with the National Centre’s Privacy Policy and relevant legislation.

1. Stakeholder Engagement

  • Develop, coordinate and facilitate outreach and engagement activities that reflect the diversity of victim and survivor experiences.

  • Work alongside the Director, Lived Experience and Lived Experience Managers to identify engagement priorities and connect with underrepresented voices and communities.

  • Establish and maintain collaborative partnerships with Lived Experience groups, peer networks and community partners that centre Lived Experience leadership.

  • Ensure inclusive participation by creating safe and ethical environments that remove barriers to engagement.

  • Engage respectfully and ethically with diverse communities, ensuring culturally safe and inclusive practices.

  • Maintain regular, transparent, and thoughtful communication with individuals and networks to foster trust, shared purpose  and continued connection.

  • Collaborate with internal stakeholders to ensure alignment in engagement efforts regarding Lived Experience across the organisation.

2. Capability Building and Support

  • Provide guidance and support to team members and relevant partners to strengthen their co-design and participatory practice with people with Lived Experience.

  • Build understanding across the National Centre and broader sector, of what meaningful engagement with Lived Experience looks like in practice.

  • Develop and share tools, resources, and frameworks that support ethical and inclusive engagement with victims and survivors.

  • Support continuous internal learning and development to support a culture of Lived Experience across the National Centre.

  • Act as a resource and advisor to teams seeking to implement trauma responsive evidence based and inclusive approaches in their work.

3. Learning, Evaluation and Impact

  • Report and document insights, feedback and reflections from Lived Experience initiatives to inform continuous learning.

  • Contribute to the design and implementation of evaluation processes that assess the outcomes and impact of engagement activities.

  • Share findings in an accessible and impactful way with internal teams, partners, and communities to improve future practice.

  • Support the development of reports, case studies, or storytelling outputs that exemplify the impact of Lived Experience leadership.

  • Use evidence from engagement initiatives to inform broader organisational strategies, policies, and systems change efforts.

4. Inclusive Design and Facilitation

  • Apply inclusive design methods that centre diverse voices and support shared decision making.

  • Adapt facilitation techniques to meet the needs and preferences of different individuals, groups, and communities.

  • Plan and facilitate co-design, co-production, and participatory processes that actively involve people with lived and living experience in shaping the work of the National Centre.