Annual Reports
Lived Experience Australia, as the Private Mental Health Peak Body, are committed to advocating for quality mental health services where consumers and carers are included as partners in care planning, consulted for their expertise, and co-creators of policy that affect them.
Our annual reports offer a detailed overview of the work we undertake each year in advocacy, capacity and capability building, research and partnerships. These reports highlight the progress we have made, the challenges we have faced, and the impact we have had in our mission to ensure people with lived experience of mental ill health, and their carers, family and kin, are heard and have a voice in the policies that affect them and the services that are provided to them.
You can read our most current and previous reports below.
Lived Experience Australia’s (LEA) activities and achievements during the 2024-2025 financial year reflect the collective effort, passion and commitment that the LEA team delivers every day to help improve Australia’s mental health system and services, and build capacity for lived experience voices to be heard in mental health reform across Australia.
With pivotal roles held in shaping national reform such as NDIS Review, Unmet Needs Report, National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement, Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, Productivity Commission Inquiry, and the Robodebt Inquiry.
At each opportunity, LEA has brought the diverse, intersectional and collective voices of our lived-living experience community to the table.
Our 2025 Annual Report
Behind Every Number...
While annual reports are by nature statistical documents, we view these numbers differently. Each figure represents real people who've courageously shared their experiences to create change. Whether that is through sharing their story, participating in research or focus groups, undertaking learning opportunities, or joining with us to advocate for change, it's the story - the experience - that is key.
Each of these experiences is a real human, a person with feelings, struggles, joys and challenges. Someone who loves and deserves love.
When you read this report, we hope you can see through the numbers to the human impact that drives our advocacy.
2025 Highlights
GROWTH
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45% increase in Advocacy Submissions and Representation
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88% increase in Capacity / Capability Building Participation
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46% increase in Online Learning Platform Users
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25% increase in reach across social media and subscriber networks
There are so many more examples of what we do in our full report.
Download or View it now
Advocacy (Influencing Services & System Reform)
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Over 120 lived-living expertise representative panel members
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63 working groups provided with lived-living expertise
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24 advocacy submissions
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1 Parliamentary Inquiry (NSW - Loneliness)
Research (Gathering Evidence for Systemic Advocacy)
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198 peer workers, leaders and trainers consulted for the Peer Association Foregrounding Project
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18 Research projects with LEA as an active Partner
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Oral Health & Mental Health lived experience led major research project completed by LEA
Capacity/Capability Building
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2,374 program participants - 1,547 consumers, carers, family and kin and 827 clinicians and organisation leaders
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98% of LLE participants felt more confident to advocate for themselves or someone they care for
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95% of clinicians and staff gained knowledge about the role of lived-living experience
Partnerships & Collaboration
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Community Mental Health Drug and Alcohol Research Network (CMHDARN) for Safe Research Partnerships
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National Mental Health Consumer Carer Forum (NMHCCF) for the Lived Experience (Peer) Workforce Checklist
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Consortia Partner for the SANE Digital Health Navigation Project
How we influence mental health reform
At the heart of everything we do at Lived Experience Australia is a deep and unwavering commitment to ensuring that the voices of those with lived and living experience are central to shaping the mental health system. This is not just an approach, it is a fundamental principle grounded in human rights, dignity, and equity. Embedding lived-living experience (LLE) in all aspects of our work enables authentic partnerships that drive better outcomes across individual, community, organisational, and systemic levels.
Through our research and capacity/capability building programs, lived experience representative panel and strong sector collaborations, we ensure these voices actively influence policy, service design, implementation, and evaluation. Our advocacy submissions are driven by the insights and priorities of our broad and diverse network, making our work both credible and impactful.
