Our Work

The Peer Workforce Student Mentoring Program provided independent Lived Experience peer mentors to support TAFE students studying a Certificate IV in Mental Health Peer Work at the East Coast and Gold Coast TAFE campuses in 2022. This pilot project was under the stewardship of the Queensland Alliance for Mental Health, the Queensland Lived Experience Workforce Network and TAFE Queensland. 

The project was an initiative delivered on behalf of WorkAbility Qld and funded by Department Employment Small Business and Training (DESBT) under the (National Disability Insurance Scheme) NDIS training and Skills Support Strategy (NTSSS).

In November 2022, QLEWN and BrookRED co-hosted Lived Experience Workforce Day at the Queensland Mental Health, Alcohol and Other Drugs, and Suicide Prevention Leaders' Summit organised by the Queensland Mental Health Commission

In December 2021, a Queensland parliamentary Mental Health Select Committee was established to undertake an inquiry and report on the opportunities to improve mental health outcomes for Queenslanders. 

Find out more about the inquiry

QLEWN approached the Queensland Alliance for Mental Health (QAMH) in 2020 expressing concerns about gaps in available training to meet the professional development needs of the Queensland Lived Experience workforce. Subsequently, QLEWN, QMHA and Brisbane North Peer Participation in Mental Health Services (PPIMS) Network partnered to map the extent of the issues through conducting two surveys - one collecting information individual Lived Experience workers and one collecting from organisations.

In 2019 the Productivity Commission undertook an inquiry into the role of improving mental health to support economic participation and enhancing productivity and economic growth. 

Find out more about the Productivity Commission inquiry

On behalf of the Roundtable, Brook Red and Brisbane PHN North initiated and funded a strategic planning workshop to enable Queensland Lived Experience workers to further engage members of the Lived Experience workforce in discussions to inform the development of a peak body to represent their interests.  

An online survey was distributed in November 2018 to engage input from the Lived Experience workforce to guide the Roundtable in progressing action to establish Q-LEWN as a peak body to represent the Queensland Lived Experience Workforce. 151 Survey respondents confirmed that Lived Experience workers wanted to decide and drive policy about workforce development for their workforce. 

At the request of the Roundtable, Brook RED and Brisbane North PHN funded the Building Foundations Forum in May 2018 to engage the Lived Experience workforce in discussions about workforce development. The Building Foundations Forum (attended by over 70 Lived Experience workers from across Queensland, expressed strong support for establishing a Lived Experience workforce peak body.