Congratulations are in order for the first 21 graduates of the pioneering Lead from Lived Experience: Enhancing Cancer Care Program, who recently celebrated reaching this milestone with family, mentors, peers and numerous other supporters from the cancer community.
The immersive leadership masterclass – the first of its kind in Australia – is a key initiative of the Cancer Consumer-led Research Partnership program. It was made possible through funding by the Victorian Department of Health and led by people with a lived experience of cancer (consumers) and staff from the VCCC Alliance, Monash Partners Comprehensive Cancer Consortium (MPCCC), Regional Trials Network (RTN-Vic), Cancer Council Victoria and The University of Melbourne.
“It felt wonderful to have a seat at the table where my voice, views, and knowledge were respected, valued, and accepted. This experience reinforced the importance of involving consumers and lived experience leaders in meaningful ways, not just as advisors, but as collaborators who shape and influence the work being done.” - Rose Claridge, regional participant
A dynamic co-design team of lived experience experts worked alongside partner organisation staff and specialists in engagement practices, research, and diversity to collaboratively shape the immersive leadership education. Together, they developed an intentional recruitment strategy that aligned with the Victorian Cancer Plan equitable approach for priority populations. The 21 graduates who completed the Lead from Lived Experience program provide a snapshot of the diversity of those populations, representing CALD (culturally and linguistically diverse), Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, LGBTQI+ (lesbian, gay, bi, trans, queer and intersex), people with disability, and young adult survivor communities. More than 59% were from regional Victoria.
Executives from each of the program partners presented the graduates with their certificates at the celebration. They were impressed by the calibre and contributions of the participants, and the early evaluation measures that indicate the program achieved its core aims of building lived experience leadership capability and creating meaningful development opportunities.
This immersive leadership program was co-designed together with Health Voices Victoria and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. It includes online modules, in-person workshops and real-world placements.
The graduating cohort had placements in 10 organisations and worked on 16 cancer-related projects across research, clinical services and education, while engaging in both mentorship and peer exchange opportunities.
“The placement felt validating, supportive, and empowering. Lived experience expertise was treated as knowledge rather than content, and there was genuine openness to feedback and adaptation.” - Louise Pham, participant
“The graduates now have the confidence and capability to navigate the cancer sector, and are ready to shape research, policy and practice,” said Melissa Sheldon, a Wamba Wamba woman and lived experience leader. “Many thanks to the lived experience leaders and the co-educators who helped to develop and deliver the in-person sessions, putting the program's principles in lived experience leadership into action.”
Melissa shared the emcee duties at the education event with Steve Cavill, another lived experience leader. Steve told the graduates, “You are part of something much bigger than just this program. You are all now helping to embed your lived experience across the cancer sector. Lived experience is expertise, and lived experience is leadership.”
Sam Docherty is a former AFL Carlton and Brisbane Lions player who has twice been diagnosed with testicular cancer. He’s used his experience to raise awareness and funds for cancer research and is on the Board of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Foundation.
“Footballers are really attached to their athletic abilities; it’s the reason they do what they do,” Sam said. “When you’re undergoing treatment, you kind of get stripped down to your bare bones. You get perspective on what’s important in life.
“Leadership is willingness to be open and to tell a story.” - Sam Docherty
Dr Elizabeth Deveny, CEO Consumers Health Forum of Australia, offered some advice to the new graduates on the reality of what lived experience leadership looks and feels like: “You're part of something bigger, it's a social movement, and there's a long arc, and your role in it is real, even if at times you don't think that the consequences are visible to you. I can't tell you you're going to change everything, that would be nice, but I can say this, if you're thoughtful, and if you're persistent, and if you're strategic in what you do, you will change something. And sometimes that ripple effect will be magnificent.”
Melissa closed the event on this appropriate high note: “From here, the possibilities, I think, are endless – for more cohorts of lived experience leaders, more partnerships across the sector, more opportunities for collaboration between researchers, clinicians, and people affected by cancer. And ultimately, better cancer research, better cancer care, and better outcomes for the communities we serve.”
Supported by the Victorian Government through the Department of Health, the program was co-designed and delivered together with Health Voices Victoria and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
