Health services consulting
Working with Consumers
There are a range of ways to involve and partner with consumers, carers, family and community members in your work. This information may help when considering involving consumer, carer, community or family representatives in a working group or committee, or similar structure.
We suggest having at least two consumer representatives on your committee or group. This helps bring different viewpoints and gives support to the consumers. It can also reduce some of the power imbalance between group members with different roles.
If there’s only one consumer in the group, think about how you (or the Chair) can support them before meetings. This could mean giving them enough time to review materials, access printed documents, and receive background information on the topics. After the meeting, check in with them to see if they have any questions or concerns they didn’t feel comfortable sharing in the group.
We recommend actively seeking diverse consumer voices, including Aboriginal people, people from different cultural backgrounds, people with disabilities, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and those facing disadvantage. If relevant, also consider getting input from people outside the metro area. Think about any barriers that might stop these groups from joining, and plan ways to reduce them.
It’s also helpful to involve consumers, carers, community members, and people with lived experience from different demographics. HCC can assist if you to engage and partner with diverse individuals and communities.
Be clear about what you expect from the role:
- How often will meetings be, and how long will they last?
- Will there be a lot of pre-reading? How will you share it?
- Is the meeting venue easy to access? Is there enough parking or public transport?
- Can they join meetings remotely?
- Will they need to talk to other consumers or community members for their input? If yes, how will they be supported? HCC can help share surveys and other feedback opportunities if needed.
It is best practice to offer a consumer participation payment, and to ensure the information about this is provided to potential consumers upfront.
If the budget allows, you can also reimburse consumer for travel and parking expenses.
HCC’s Engagement Policy provides more information about consumer roles and rates of payment, and provides answers to frequently asked questions.
