The State Government has engaged foster care and other services provider Life Without Barriers to establish and support the Lived Experience Group.

The group will provide a forum for family members of children in care, or engaged in the child protection and family support system, or individuals who have had a direct experience of the system themselves, to contribute to policy and practice development and inform system-level changes.

Up to 10 group members will be appointed through an Expression of Interest process, with the first meeting to be held in the coming months. The group will ensure that reform is informed by the perspectives and experiences of relatives of children placed in care and those who have had a lived experience themselves.

Life Without Barriers will partner with The Reilly Foundation and DS Consultancy to develop the group, which will report on its findings. Reilly Foundation is a community organisation providing practical support, education and advocacy for parents who are navigating the child protection and family support system. DS Consultancy specialises in working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations and communities, service providers and those with direct experience to improve services.

The State Government has also recently announced the formation of a new Carer Council and Child Protection Expert Group.

Quotes attributable to Minister for Child Protection Katrine Hildyard MP

We are determined to drive change across the child protection and family support system.

Those who have been involved with child protection provide valuable insights into areas for improvement within the system; their voices must be heard and acted upon as we embark on the process of reform.

The establishment of this group recognises that family members, and those who may have had a lived experience themselves, have a wealth of knowledge to offer to help inform developments in the system, and to help keep children and young people safe, loved and nurtured and advance their rights.

This group sits alongside the network of other crucial groups who are providing advice and shining a light onto the system as we work together toward meaningful reform.

Quotes attributable to Simone Mather, SA Director, Life Without Barriers

Family strengthening will be a crucial focus of the Lived Experience Group. We know that when policy and practice is informed by parents and family with lived experience, we see better outcomes for everyone involved.

The work of the Lived Experience Group will help ensure South Australian families are better supported, and that children’s rights to family, community and country are upheld.

We congratulate the Department for its leadership in funding the establishment of this group of parents with lived experience of having children in care and we look forward to working collaboratively with Minister Hildyard and her Department in this work.