Over three decades of consumer voices: the training that keeps people ready
Since 1994, Health Consumers’ Council WA has stood alongside people who use health services across WA. Throughout that time, one thread has run consistently through our work: helping people understand that their experience matters, that their voice belongs in the room, and that they have something real to contribute to making the health system better.
Our Introduction to Consumer Representation training is one of the ways we do that. The current iteration of this training goes back to 2019, but this commitment goes back much further. The format has evolved; the purpose has not.
A training built for the long haul
This is not a one-off workshop or a box to tick before someone is assigned to a committee or a working group or a seat at an executive table. It is a space where people with lived and learned experience of health services can explore what consumer representative work actually involves, think about whether and how they want to contribute, and build confidence to do that well. The content covers the shape of the WA health system and where consumer voices can fit within it. It is honest about the challenges: the risk of tokenism, the emotional weight of bringing personal experience into formal spaces, the patience required when change is slow. And it is grounded, always, in the belief that people who use health services hold knowledge the system cannot get from anywhere else.
It has been delivered face to face, fully online, and now in both formats because we have learned that different options open the door for different people. In 2026, two people who couldn’t make the Saturday in-person session came back and attended the Tuesday evening online session instead. That is what genuine accessibility looks like: not just saying people are welcome, but making sure there is more than one way in.
What we heard in 2026
In March and April, we ran two workshops and brought together thirteen people at different stages of their consumer representation journeys. What they shared was honest, thoughtful and consistent with what we have heard over many years of running this training.
People come to this work because something happened to them or to someone they love, and they want it to mean something changes for the next person. They want to understand the system well enough to push back on it. They want to contribute in a way that is heard and respected, not just invited in and then overlooked.
| “our perspectives and experiences are so valuable and give services and systems the information they can’t get anywhere else” |
We have put together a full summary of both workshops, including what participants told us about the value of lived experience, the realities of consumer representative roles, the importance of diversity and who is still missing from these spaces, and what makes participation meaningful rather than tokenistic.
Why this matters beyond the training room
Consumer representatives play a specific and important role in systems change. They bring the perspectives of people who use services into the places where decisions are made. They help ensure that what the health system understands about what is working, what is missing and what needs to change is grounded in real life, not just data and projections.
HCCWA’s role is to make sure the people stepping into those roles feel ready: informed, supported and clear that their experience is a form of expertise. That has been our commitment for 34 years and this training is one of the places where that commitment shows up in practice.
Read the full 2026 workshop summary report or get in touch with us at engagement@hconc.org.au if you are interested in consumer representation opportunities or want to know when our next session is running.
Health Consumers’ Council WA
www.hccwa.org.au
