Consumer Partnership and Leadership
Our Engagement Program
Health Consumers’ Council offers training, support, and opportunities for consumers, carers, and those with lived experiences to advocate for the rights and interests of the WA community and health service users.
We focus on amplifying the voices of people often overlooked or marginalised in important conversations.
If you’re a health consumer looking to drive positive change, visit our Consumer Representative Hub.
We offer resources, support, and training to help you engage in health discussions and connect with others to advocate for change.
Whether you’re new to consumer representation or an experienced leader, HCC is here to support you in working with health services to create positive change.
Health consumers are people who use, have used, or are potential users of health services. Health consumers are everyday people, patients and carers, as well as their families and friends, and people in their community.
We use the term consumer, rather than patient, to better reflect having an active role in making healthcare decisions.
What is consumer engagement?
If you’ve ever used a health service and thought it could be better, there are many ways you can help improve it for everyone in your community. Your voice can make healthcare safer and more effective.
Consumer engagement, or participation, means involving consumers in decisions about health services. We want consumers to have a say in everything from treatment choices to policy development, service design, delivery, and evaluation.
What is a consumer representative?
A consumer representative is someone who takes on a formal role to share a consumer’s point of view in a committee, advisory group, or other meeting. They use their own health experiences, training, and connections to make sure health services meet the needs of the people who use them.
There are hundreds of groups where we need consumer representatives to speak up for the community. We can help you build confidence so you can help make the WA health system better for everyone.
I’m a healthcare provider. How can I work with health consumers?
Our team works with the health system to improve healthcare and provide better information for consumers. We believe in real, productive partnerships to build the WA health service we all want. Our focus is on making sure everyone’s rights and interests are heard, understood, and respected, especially those who have been marginalised or whose voices are often missed in important discussions.
