Good practice guide forengagingorganisations:withCommunityVoicePartners
Spectrum of Community Voice Partner engagement 3
Tips for listening respectfully to Community Voice Partners 9
Considering outcomes for your organisation 10
The Community Voices Program aims to build empathy through understanding, address stigma through awareness and ensure everyone can live a good life in lutruwita (Tasmania).
CONTENTS
Engagement checklists 4
Trauma-informed approaches to working with Community Voice Partners 7
Program principles 2
Examples of Community Voice Partner engagement 11
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This good practice guide outlines ways you, as staff of an organisation, can prepare to engage with Community Voice Partners in ways which are welcoming, ethical, and authentic. Engaging with Community Voice Partners is a bit different in nature to working with, for example, staff from other organisations. You can use this guide to prepare you for engagement before, during, and after working with Community Voice Partners.
We value people by…
I’m learning to turn my vulnerability into power through an outlet where I’m respected & my input matters.
— Community Voice Partner
Community Voices Program Principles
3 Welcome and respect our differences in experiences and perspectives
3 Know that decisions affect people not at the table
3 Building empathy by being present, open, patient, and compassionate
As partners we will…
3 Participating constructively with purpose and ensuring everyone is heard
3 Value the diverse tapestry of the community
3 Sharing vulnerabilities and experiences without fear of judgement
3 Examine power, bias, and privilege
3 Are committed to ongoing improvement based on our own and others’ experiences
3 Ensure everyone is supported to contribute on their own terms
3 Be genuinely open to learning from new perspectives, especially those which may challenge our views
We partner because we…
3 Listen actively and respond thoughtfully with an appetite for understanding and respectful curiosity
3 Allow space and time for others with a willingness to compromise
PROGRAM PRINCIPLES
When partnering with diverse perspectives it is important to…
3 Create a safe and supportive environment
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3 Trust the process and our partners
3 Be self-aware and accountable to doing our best
3 Integrate opportunities for self-reflection
Working with Community Voice Partners has shown me it’s possible to work in a completely new way – using empathy, vulnerability, trust, and respect as core principles. That has benefitted our decision making and our communication. It helps us see each other as human beings and not just representatives of an organisation or population group which reduces biases and —assumptions.DrCharlieBurton, Policy Manager, TasCOSS
3 Acting with good intentions
3 Seek to increase our knowledge of different subjects and experiences
When you engage with the Community Voices Program, we ask you (and Community Voice Partners) to commit to the Program Principles below. These principles were co-designed by organisations and Community Voice Partners. They ensure engagement is based on ethical and authentic relationships and processes.
SPECTRUM OF COMMUNITY VOICE
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PARTNER ENGAGEMENT
There’s lots of different ways you can engage with Community Voice Partners—from one-off engagements providing feedback to longer-term collaborations. The below Spectrum of Community Voice Partner Engagement helps Community Voice Partners and the organisations they engage develop shared expectations about their work together. You could use this spectrum to discuss the engagement and your expectations with Community Voice Partners—asking them about their hopes and expectations too.
Developing shared expectations for engagement using the Spectrum will help find common ground and prevent misunderstandings—striving to make the most of the experience for everyone.
To help you think about the spectrum in practical ways, there’s some examples of engagement in the section at the end of this document—Examples of Community Voice Partner Engagement.
Accessibility needs and other requirements have been met for the Community Voice Partner as outlined in the Community Voice Partner’s ‘Engagement needs and expectations’ form.
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Have name tags available.
Discuss level of engagement and how Community Voice Partner input will influence outcomes and how they will be kept up to date on progress of those outcomes after the engagement.
Make time commitments required and timelines for the engagement clear.
Consult TasCOSS for support on anything that is unclear.
Discuss feedback processes between the Community Voice Partner and the organisation.
Invite questions and suggestions the Community Voice Partner has for the organisation.
Introduce yourself and relevant other staff (name, pronouns, something about yourself).
These are things organisational staff can do and discuss when meeting the Community Voice Partner for the first time in your introductory meeting prior to the commencement of the engagement.
Discuss audience or additional people involved in engagement.
Details for each engagement event (if more than one) are provided clearly and with appropriate information such as agenda, run sheet, background etc. in simple language.
Discuss recording (audio/visual) of any engagement activities.
BEFORE ENGAGEMENT
All staff involved in the engagement have read this guide and any other resources proviced, including careful consideration and/or discussion using the reflective guide below.
Identify topics which will be discussed including any assumptions which have not yet been discussed.
Plan engagement activities, including introductory meetings, in consultation with the Community Voice Partner to ensure they are available and accessible.
FIRST INTRODUCTORY MEETING
The below checklists walk you through some of the considerations for this kind of work to help ensure the experience is safe and effective for you and Community Voice Partners.
Before first meeting—these are things you can do to prepare your staff and Community Voice Partner(s) prior to the first introductory meeting.
ENGAGEMENT CHECKLISTS
Discuss privacy or confidentiality requirements of the engagement.
‘Engagement needs and expectations’ form has been received from the Community Voice Partner.
Primary and secondary contacts within the organisation have been identified for Community Voice Partner and will meet the Community Voice Partner to welcome them at the introductory meeting.
Discuss anticipated roles of each staff member and the Community Voice Partner in the engagement.
Project brief/information in simple language has been provided to the Community Voice Partner. There is flexibility built into the project to allow meaningful input from the Community Voice Partner.
I became a Community Partner because I recognised the rich value my lived experience gives my insights. I know too many people who (barely) survive on low incomes who feel unheard, voiceless, powerless— I’ve been that person. The program is an outlet to be heard and to help the voices of my community be heard: to stop me feeling invisible and to show others they’re not invisible either. The experience so far has been hands on & heartening. There’s a level of deep trust I wasn’t expecting and great enjoyment for me.
Introduce the Community Voice Partner to other people involved.
Primary and/or secondary contact meets the Community Voice Partner well in advance of the engagement (at least 10-15minutes beforehand) to make them feel welcome and comfortable, either online or in person.
For online: Orient the Community Voice Partner to the online platform, showing them the mic, video, chat etc.
PRIOR TO EACH ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITY
These are things you can invite the Community Voice Partner to share and discuss in your introductory meeting prior to the commencement of the engagement.
Boundaries are established regarding topics or activities the Community Voice Partner does not which to discuss or take part in.
For in person: Orient the Community Voice Partner to the venue which is appropriately sized, laid out, and ideally has access to outside space.
Discuss how the Community Voice Partner would like to be introduced to others at any future engagements.
Invite and answer questions from the Community Voice Partner.
— Kerrie Dare, TasCOSS Community Partner
Engagement needs and expectations are discussed and confirmed as having been met thus far with space for suggestions for future engagements.
Consider what briefing the audience/other people involved in the engagement will need to feel safe and supported including how you will respond if participants are triggered or upset by content shared by the Community Voice Partner and if participants make unsafe/ upsetting disclosures (it should not be the responsibility of the Community Voice Partner to deal with disclosures).
Safety requirements are discussed in terms of any physical, emotional, and cultural safety supports the Community Voice Partner might need to have in place beyond those outlined in the ‘Engagement needs and expectations’ form.
Invite the Community Voice Partner to introduce themselves.
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Ask if there are any requirements for comfort, accessibility, or safety which have not been met.
Privacy or confidentiality requirements for the Community Voice Partner confirmed.
Follow up with the Community Voice Partner about the outcomes of their contributions in the engagement.
Engage audience as agreed prior regarding discussions, questions, etc. making sure the Community Voice Partner can decline to answer a question by referring to the primary or secondary contact.
AFTER ENGAGEMENT
Direct the Community Voice Partner to the ‘Grievances (Complaints)’ section of their registration pack.
Language is kept simple, avoiding jargon, acronyms etc.
Clarify expectations for engagement and ways of working for other people/audience based on previous discussions and agreements with the Community Voice Partner (e.g., safety, privacy, boundaries etc.).
Wrap up at the conclusion of the engagement as appropriate (e.g., thanking the Community Voice Partner, reiterating next steps, action items, follow up etc.).
Welcome the Community Voice Partner to the engagement and introduce them as discussed prior.
Invite feedback from the Community Voice Partner. Could anything be done differently or better next time? You might consider multiple ways to provide feedback, with the option of anonymity.
Action items agreed upon in the engagement in a timely manner, incorporating the contributions made by the Community Voice Partner in meaningful ways.
IN THE EVENT OF A MISHAP
DURING ENGAGEMENT
Try addressing the issue directly with the Community Voice Partner if you feel comfortable doing so.
Trigger warning where relevant.
Ensure safe disclosure procedures are conducted for audience and the Community Voice Partner as necessary.
This resource was adapted from the open access Safe + Equal ‘Survivor Advocate Engagement Checklist.’
I’ve really enjoyed collaborating with a bunch of like-minded people from all different walks of life who respect differences in experiences and perspectives and have a genuine collective focus of improving the lives of Tasmanians who need it most. I’m proud to be part of something that’s going to make a real difference in the lives of Tasmanians living on low incomes.
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Food and drink available for longer engagements, water at a minimum for shorter engagements.
Offer feedback by sharing your reflections on how the engagement went, what the Community Voice Partner did well, the value they contributed, and constructive suggestions for improvement.
Contact the TasCOSS Community Voices Program Coordinator to discuss.
If the mishap is in relation to the Program Coordinator, contact the secondary TasCOSS contact.
Check in with TasCOSS as needed.
— Jordan Abell, Senior Corporate Affairs & Stakeholder Engagement Advisor
Keep time so the Community Voice Partner can start and finish on time.
Debrief with Community Voice Partner. How did they feel it went? Did anything occur during the engagement that impacted them? Did anything come up that could affect their physical, emotional, and cultural safety? Ensure they are comfortable with what they shared: was anything disclosed that they would like edited from a recording or documentation?
Confirm next steps resulting from the engagement with clear expectations for the Community Voice Partner including timeline for actions and follow up.
SAFETY
Are there opportunities for the Community Voice Partner to see how their contribution is being Howactioned?willyou
Domain Prompt questions
What does the Community Voice Partner need to protect their emotional safety? What do you need to protect your emotional safety? Consider triggers, potential for embarrassment or invalidation, preparedness, feeling in control.
What does the Community Voice Partner need to protect their social safety? What do you need to protect social physical safety? Consider anonymity, confidentiality, or potential for backlash from speaking up.
What does the Community Voice Partner need to protect their physical safety? What do you need to protect your physical safety? Consider venue choices, times, mode of contact.
Have you considered power differentials? How can you attend to these? Have you considered your privileges in this space? How might these impact the Community Voice Partner(s)?
Are there opportunities and sufficient flexibility for the Community Voice Partner to make choices about the nature of engagement in an ongoing manner?
What does trustworthiness look and feel like? How is it communicated, demonstrated, and Howenacted?canyou
demonstrate your trustworthiness? Consider authenticity and transparency, keeping your word, and anything you might wish to share about your identity, motivations, intentions, or uncertainties.
to working with Community Voice Partners
communicate to the Community Voice Partner that you value them and their expertise, and believe that they matter?
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Have you discussed communication preferences and needs with the Community Voice Partner(s)? How are you signposting what is going to happen and when in the engagement?
What are your vulnerabilities in this work? Where might you encounter ethical questions? What are your uncertainties? What do you feel like you don’t know, or don’t know enough about? How might these impact the Community Voice Partner? Do you need external support for any of these concerns?
What are your biases? Are you likely to prioritise certain viewpoints or voices ahead of others? Why might this be and what can you do to address this?
How will you demonstrate to the Community Voice Partner(s) that you have compassionate respect for their identity, circumstances, and experiences?
CHOICE COLLABORATIONAND
TRUST POWERAND
Are there opportunities for the Community Voice Partner to give feedback on or have input into engagement design?
TRAUMA-INFORMED APPROACHES
Reflecting individually or as a team on the below questions ensures you are taking a trauma-informed approach to engaging with Community Voice Partners. The work Community Voice Partners do can be challenging—sharing stories of stigma or oppression is not easy. Doing the work within your organisation to ensure staff are prepared to engage respectfully and empathically will go a long way to making the engagement constructive and beneficial for all involved.
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Here’s some space for you to take notes as you work through the reflection
Are there ways that organisational structures might impact upon Community Voice Partners’ agency, autonomy, and dignity?
This..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................questions:..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................resourcewasadaptedfromtheguideto‘Trauma-informedanddignifyingpracticeinqualitativeresearch’(Moran&Ridley).
DIGNITYPROMOTING
to the political context of your engagement in relation to the Community Voice Partner’s lived experiences?
How is reciprocity present in your relationship with the Community Voice Partner? Consider what you might share of yourself in your interactions with the Community Voice Partner and how this relationship might differ from traditional ideas of ‘professional relationships’.
Have you considered how Community Voice Partner(s) may have experienced dismissal or discrediting of their knowledge, experiences, and perspectives because they come from a low-income background? What might have been the impacts of this? Consider the Community Voice Partner(s) circumstances and how much participation might be costing them, in terms of physical, emotional, and social health as well as economic or time costs. Is this something you could ask about in your discussions of safety?
Is there public expertise you can access (e.g., readings or media) to develop your understanding to avoid relying solely on the Community Voice Partner to explain their
Arecircumstance?yousensitive
• Show you have heard and thank them for sharing
• Show empathy
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Here’s some tips for listening and engaging respectfully with Community Voice Partners—developed by Community Voice Partners themselves. You could consider sharing this with audiences or other people in meetings or events where a Community Voice Partner will be engaging.
TIPS FOR LISTENING RESPECTFULLY
• Focus on the person, not the task
• Slow down and think before speaking
• Dismiss, question, or diminish the experiences being shared
• Be appreciative of and affirm courage
TO COMMUNITY VOICE PARTNERS
• Understand that visual cues and non-verbal behaviours can vary
• Allow space to for them to finish speaking
• Ask inquisitive, curious questions
• Be intentional with body language
• Give advice or offer solutions to ‘fix’ them or their circumstances
Dos Don’ts
• Clarify and check your understanding
• Get distracted by your phone, laptop, etc.
• Interrupt the speaker
• Re-focus the discussion on your own knowledge or experiences
• Express perspectives which might be based on bias
• Turn away
• Generalise too much
• Actively listen
• Check in afterwards
• Respect that people communicate in different ways
• Offer support and give time
• Rush
• Give verbal or non-verbal acknowledgements of what is being said
• Show care
• Be attentive to your own emotions, reactions, and assumptions
• Assume to know what’s going on for the person sharing
E.g.: Organisational staff have a better understanding of and skills for engaging people with lived experience self-rated improvement in relevant knowledge item on organisational
experience Operations tracking COMMUNITY
which
FOR YOUR ORGANISATION
There are a few examples included in the table to help get your thinking started.
measures]
survey
ORGANISATIONALINIDIVIDUAL
E.g.: Lived experience of projects/ processes/ operations engage lived
COMMUNITYORGANISATIONAL
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impact
Staff
Level Outcome/Impact Indicator(s) Tool
CONSIDERING OUTCOMES
This section of the guide is to support you to think about what outcomes you might want to achieve and/or measure from your work with Community Voice Partners. The table below provides a template to map these outcomes according to the following two parameters:
People using our services have improved standard of living relevant to our organisational scope [Relevant
is embedded in the operations and culture of our organisation Number
according to organisational scope] [Tools
INIDIVIDUAL
LONG-TERM IMPACTS
E.g.: social measure as relevant to social impact
COMMUNITYORGANSATIONALINIDIVIDUAL
• Scope of change—where change will happen (with Individuals, Organisations, Community/Society)
and skills Likert scale
• Timeframe for change (Short-term, Medium-term, Longterm) including ‘Unintended outcomes’ for any potential outcomes which could occur but were not intended
SHORT-TERM IMPACTS
MEDIUM-TERM IMPACTS
with
receive an introductory session with the State Government department providing background on the policy. They then attend six panel meetings— once every two months for the year that the policy development process runs. For each meeting, May and Rodrigo are provided with information and questions to review beforehand. They discuss these in the panel session, providing feedback and ideas on ways to improve, based on their experiences of living on low incomes. The State Government department then decides how to integrate this feedback and ideas into the policy being developed, and report back to the panel on the outcome from each panel meeting.
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This is a consultative style of engagement where the State Government department asks for feedback or input but has decision-making power about the outcomes of the process. For each meeting, the May and Rodrigo receive support from the TasCOSS Community Voices
involvement style of engagement because Akiko is involved in the process of interviewing and contributes to the decision about who is hired. Akiko receives support from the TasCOSS program coordinator by checking in prior to the interview process and debriefing after. Akiko is paid for the nine hours of the interview process plus two hours of preparation and half an hour of debriefing.
A community services organisation is hiring a new social worker. Because most clients of the organisation live on low incomes, the organisation decides it would be good practice to have someone with relevant lived experience on the interview panel. This will help to ensure the social worker hired is someone who treats clients fairly and with empathy.
GovernmentCONSULT:Lived Experience Advisory Panel
VOICE PARTNER ENGAGEMENT
Program coordinator by checking in prior to the meeting and debriefing after. Community Voice Partners are paid for the three-hour introductory session, two hours preparation per panel meeting, two hours for each panel meeting, and half an hour debriefing for each of the six panel meetings across the year. The State Government department pays for their engagement and TasCOSS administers those payments.
EXAMPLES OF COMMUNITY
A department of the State Government is developing a new policy which will affect many Tasmanians. To bring the voice of lived experience into the policy development process to make sure the policy works for the people it affects, the State Government department creates a Lived Experience Advisory Panel. This panel is made up of people with diverse lived experiences. Because the policy will affect Tasmanians living on low incomes, the State Government department requests that TasCOSS connect them with two Community Voice Partners—May and Rodrigo—who will sit on the panel alongside other Mayadvocates.andRodrigo
The organisation requests that TasCOSS connect them with a Community Voice Partner—Akiko—who will sit on the interview panel. To do this, Akiko meets for an hour with the community services organisation to be briefed on what they are looking for. She then sits on the interview panel for five interviews for a duration of six hours (including breaks between interviews). Akiko then partakes in two hours of discussions with the organisation to come to a final decision about who is hired, providing her recommendations based on her experiences of being someone who might access their Thisservices.isan
OrganisationalINVOLVE: hiring process
The below examples describe how Community Voice Partners could engage in different ways. These are hypothetical examples which have been written drawing on many examples of good practice from Tasmania and Australia.
A new cross-sector collaboration is starting up to provide wrap-around perspectives on complex social problems in Tasmania. In addition to a range of businesses and organisations, the collaboration team include community members with lived experience to contribute to the project. This is to ensure that any solutions or outcomes are designed with community and are fit for purpose.
BusinessEMPOWER/LEAD:servicedelivery revision
ProjectCOLLABORATE:workinggroup
The business requests that TasCOSS connect them two Community Voice Partners—Yihan and Gabriel—both of whom have taken part in the business’s financial support program in the past. Yihan and Gabriel have lots of ideas about how to make the financial hardship program simpler and easier to access because they have been through it themselves. Yihan and Gabriel develop the ‘how to’ guide by drawing on their own experiences and talking to other customers who have taken part in the program in the past. The business support Yihan and Gabriel by providing information or resources and answering questions—enabling them to complete the guide—but they don’t really intervene with the process other than to help when asked. The resulting guide is then shared with future customers as a resource developed by customers, for customers.
This is an empowerment/leadership style of engagement because Yihan and Gabriel are taking the lead on developing and delivering the ‘how to’ guide, with enabling support from the business. Yihan and Gabriel are supported by TasCOSS with regular check ins and are paid for the time they spend checking in with TasCOSS, planning the process, meeting with the business, talking to other customers, and developing the ‘how to’ guide.
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The collaboration team requests that TasCOSS connect them four Community Voice Partners—Amar, Grace, Sekani, and Jorge—to work with them as partners on the project working group which will run for six months. They have funding to pay Amar, Grace, Sekani, and Jorge to each contribute three hours a week for six months. These hours include preparing for and attending meetings, providing input and feedback on documents and processes, and contributing to the creation of resources like ‘how to guides for community’. In addition to these three hours a week, Amar, Grace, Sekani, and Jorge also meet with the TasCOSS program coordinator for an hour a month to check in on how they are going and provide support as needed.
A large business delivers a financial support program for their customers who can’t always pay their bills on time. They have had feedback from customers that this program is confusing and inaccessible. They decide that they would like to work with people who have engaged with their program in the past to develop a ‘how to’ guide to future customers to help them navigate the program.
I’m learning to judge less. To take a step back and consider my choice of words. I’ve become really aware of people’s more subtle emotions, so I feel like my self-awareness is increasing. I’ve realised that I like to tell family and friends what I’m doing and am speaking about the project with pride and conviction.
This is a collaborative style of engagement because Amar, Grace, Sekani, and Jorge are actively partnering on the project in the same way as other collaborators. They have an equal seat at the table, they share in decisions, and they co-produce the outputs of the collaboration.
— Community Voice Partner
Our Mission is to challenge and change the systems, behaviours and attitudes that create poverty, inequality and exclusion.
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TasCOSS’s 2022 Federal Election – Tasmania Package is informed by our research and analysis and reflects the expertise of our members, advocates, and the lived experiences of Tasmanians.
Our Vision is of one Tasmania, free of poverty and inequality where everyone has the same opportunity.