A summary of our March and April 2026 workshops

Prepared for participants, our consumer community and health system partners

A warm welcome back, and a thank you

These workshops belong to everyone who showed up: those who came in person on a Saturday morning, those who joined online on a Tuesday evening, and those who registered and couldn’t make it this time. Your interest matters, and there will always be a door open for you.

This report is our way of sharing what happened in those rooms and online spaces, and what we heard. It’s written for the people who attended, for our wider consumer community across WA, and for the health system partners and consumer engagement teams who are part of this work with us.

We hope it reflects not just what was covered, but the spirit of how it was covered: honestly, warmly, and grounded in the belief that the experiences of people who use, care for others in, and move through health services are a form of knowledge the system cannot afford to ignore.

About these workshops

In March and April 2026, Health Consumers’ Council WA held two Introduction to Consumer Representation workshops. One was an in-person Saturday session; the other was an online Tuesday evening session. Together, they brought 13 people into conversation, people at different stages of their journeys with consumer representation, and from different corners of WA.

These sessions are part of HCCWA’s core training and engagement work. They are designed for people with lived and learned experience, for carers, family members and community members who want to understand what consumer representation can look like, why it matters, and how they might contribute to making health services work better for everyone.

The timing and format of both sessions were deliberate. The Saturday workshop came out of feedback that people needed options outside standard working hours. The Tuesday evening online session recognised that many people are fitting this kind of engagement around employment, caring responsibilities, health needs, study and family life. Accessibility is not an afterthought at HCCWA. It is central to how we think about participation.

Consumer representation is not separate from the communities we’re part of. It’s one way that people who live with and through health systems can bring their knowledge into places where decisions are made, and help those decisions be better.

Who took part

Across the two workshops, 35 people registered. Thirteen people attended: five at the in-person session and eight online. A number of people sent apologies and couldn’t make it on the day.

Importantly, two people who had registered for the in-person Saturday session and were unable to attend came back and joined the online Tuesday evening session instead. Because a second option existed, they were able to find a time that worked for them and still participate. This is exactly why offering different formats matters: not as a logistical convenience, but because the right opportunity at the right time is what makes participation genuinely accessible.

We want to say something directly here: lower attendance than registrations is not a failure, by anyone. It’s a reality of community participation. People register because they want to come. Work, health, caring, transport, unexpected demands: sometimes life gets in the way. This is one of the reasons we follow up with everyone who couldn’t attend and personally invite them to the next available session. Missing one workshop does not mean missing the opportunity. You are always still welcome.

This quote captures something we heard throughout both sessions: people often come to consumer representation because they have seen, very personally, how hard systems can be to navigate. And they want that to change for the next person.

A snapshot of who responded to our evaluation

Six people completed anonymous evaluation forms across the two sessions. While this isn’t a full picture of everyone who attended, it gives us a useful snapshot of who provided feedback.

People who responded included:

• Consumer representatives and people new to consumer representation
• A consumer who is part of a systemic advisory group
• A healthcare staff member
• A community member
• People who identified as carers, people living with chronic health conditions, and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds

Respondents came from postcodes across metropolitan Perth and regional WA, a reminder that this work matters from Fremantle to the south-west and beyond. For every single one of them, this was their first time attending an HCCWA training or event.

What the workshops covered

The sessions worked through a lot of ground, but always with people at the centre. Topics included:

• How the WA health system is structured, and where its connections and gaps tend to be
• What we mean when we talk about consumers, carers, family, lived experience and learned experience
• What consumer representative roles can actually involve in practice
• Partnering with consumers, including Standard 2 of the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards
• What people can expect when they step into a consumer representative role
• The skills and qualities that support effective representation
• The importance of diversity, and of noticing whose voices are still missing
• Honest conversation about the challenges: tokenism, power dynamics, emotional labour and feeling unheard
• Self-care, boundaries and sustainability in the work
• Where to find further support, training and opportunities through HCCWA and beyond

What made these workshops more than a list of topics, though, was the way they were held. Consumer representation was never framed as a technical task or a formal position only. It was framed as relational, values-based work, grounded in lived experience, shared responsibility and connection to community.

What we heard: key themes

Across both sessions, a number of strong themes emerged. These weren’t just talking points; they were things people felt and named from their own lives.

1. Lived experience is a form of knowledge

People who use health services, care for others, navigate aged care, mental health, disability or hospital systems hold knowledge the system cannot get from data alone. This came through clearly in both workshops.

This is one of the core reasons consumer representation matters. Participants told us the most useful parts of the workshop included gaining “in-depth knowledge of health WA,” “understanding the value” of consumer representation, and learning “what consumer reps can expect, skills required, barriers, challenges and benefits.” Together, these responses suggest the workshops helped people see that their experience is not secondary to professional knowledge. It is different knowledge. And it is essential.

2. Consumer representation is contribution, not just a position

Many participants described consumer representation as a way of using their hard-won experience to improve services for others. For some, that came from personal health experiences. For others, it came from watching a parent, child, partner or family member struggle to navigate a system that wasn’t designed with them in mind.

People are not coming to consumer representation only because they want a seat at a table. They are coming because they want what they have been through, or what someone they love has been through, to mean something.

That comment captures a practical hope that ran through both workshops. Consumer representation is not abstract. It is about improving real people’s real experiences of care.

3. Representation is relational and collective

Consumer representation is not only about telling our own story. Our stories matter; they often bring us into this work. But participants also reflected on how the work asks us to listen, stay curious, seek out other perspectives and hold space for voices that are different from our own.

This speaks to both confidence and connection. Consumer representation is not about creating an “us and them” divide. It’s about bringing lived experience into shared spaces, while being honest about power, accountability and the need for change.

4. Diversity is central, not optional

Both workshops gave real attention to diversity. Participants across the two sessions brought a wide range of identities and experiences: carers, people living with chronic illness, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, healthcare staff, community members and people new to the work.

This is a powerful reminder. Inviting people is not enough. If people have been harmed, dismissed or treated unfairly by systems, participation needs to be built with care, trust and safety. The workshops consistently encouraged participants to ask: Who has been involved? Who hasn’t? What might we be missing? What do we need to do differently?

5. The work is practical and values-based

Participants valued both the practical and the human dimensions of the workshops. People discussed what consumer representatives can expect, including payment, orientation, preparation time, support from coordinators and respect in meetings. They also discussed skills: listening, asking good questions, being prepared, managing power dynamics, seeking information and sharing experience safely.

That comment captures something important. Consumer representatives help ensure that systems don’t lose sight of the people affected by their decisions. Evaluation responses described the most useful elements as the “interactive nature,” the “honest and open and authentic account of the role,” and the practical detail about what the work involves.

6. Tokenism, accountability and closing the loop

Participants were honest about the risk of consumer involvement becoming a tick-box exercise. This included concerns about not being heard, being the only person with a different view, feeling spoken over, having too little preparation time, or being invited into decisions too late to make a real difference.

The workshops were clear: meaningful partnership is not just about inviting people in. It is about creating the conditions for people to contribute well, taking that contribution seriously, and coming back to people with what happened as a result. People want to know: What did you do with what we said? What changed? What couldn’t change, and why? That feedback loop is a form of respect.

7. The work can be meaningful and hard, sometimes at the same time

The workshops were honest about the emotional dimensions of consumer representation. People often come to this work because something difficult or harmful happened to them or to someone they care about. That motivation can be powerful. It can also make the work emotionally demanding.

Participants discussed bureaucracy, slow change, power imbalances, vicarious trauma and the challenge of knowing how to bring personal experience into formal spaces without being asked to carry more than is fair. The training was clear: consumer representative roles are not therapy. People need support, boundaries and care to do this work sustainably over time.

Self-care was framed as a collective as well as an individual responsibility: knowing our limits, debriefing, finding allies, seeking mentoring, choosing the right opportunities, and remembering that this work should also bring something to us.

What participants told us

Six people completed evaluation forms. Their feedback was positive and thoughtful.

All six respondents said:

• The workshop was a good use of their time
• The length was just right
• They would recommend an HCCWA event to a friend, colleague or network
• Their knowledge of the importance of consumer representation improved: four said it had greatly improved, two said it had improved

Most respondents also reported increased interest in getting involved. Four said their interest had greatly increased, one said it had increased, and one said it had stayed the same, which may simply mean they were already keen.

In their own words: what was most useful

What participants suggested we could do better

When asked what was least useful, most people said nothing, or that all parts were useful. One person noted the health system overview was complex and acknowledged openly that the system itself is complex and convoluted. This is useful feedback: the overview is important, and we can keep working on how we present it clearly.

One participant suggested we explore ways of managing discussion so that each person has a chance to contribute without any one topic taking over. That’s something we will consider for future sessions.

What worked well, and what we’re thinking about next

These workshops did several things well.

They created welcoming spaces where people could bring their experience, questions and uncertainty without needing to already have system knowledge. They affirmed lived and learned experience as valuable knowledge, not a nice addition but something central. They were practical and honest about what consumer representation involves, including the challenges. They supported people to see themselves as capable contributors to change.

The smaller in-person group allowed for deeper conversation and relationship-building. The online evening format broadened access for people who could not attend in person or during the day. Across both formats, participants responded to authenticity: not just being told what consumer representation is but being invited into an honest conversation about what it feels like and what helps.

For future sessions, we are thinking about:

• Making the WA health system overview easier to navigate, with clearer visuals and plain-language pathways
• Continuing to offer flexible formats, in person and online, on weekends and evenings, so that more people can participate around their lives
• Protecting space for genuine discussion while supporting a good session flow
• Keeping diversity, equity and missing voices as core content throughout, not a separate topic
• Continuing to name emotional labour, boundaries and self-care as genuine parts of the work

In closing

These two workshops were a small, meaningful piece of the work. Thirteen people came together, bringing curiosity, experience and care, and explored what it might look like to contribute to a health system that works better for everyone.

The strongest message across both sessions was consistent: people who use services, care for others and navigate health systems hold knowledge that matters. This knowledge helps services see what is working, what is confusing, what is missing and what needs to change.

Together, those two reflections capture the heart of this work.

Consumer representation is not separate from community. It is grounded in relationships, accountability and shared responsibility. It asks us to bring our own experience, listen for the experiences of others, notice who is missing, and keep working towards systems that better reflect the needs and realities of the people they serve.

For HCCWA, these sessions are part of strengthening the pathways for people to contribute to health system improvement across WA. They are also a model of the kind of engagement we want to see more broadly: accessible, honest, relational, inclusive and grounded in the belief that our experiences can create change.

Thank you to everyone who came, who tried to come, and who continues to believe that their experience belongs in the room.

Health Consumers’ Council WA

www.hccwa.org.au