Hope is often positioned as the primary contribution of Lived Experience work in mental health spaces; however, when hope is platformed in place of the skill, knowledge and value brought by Peers, it can reinforce epistemic injustice and pose more of a hindrance than an asset in a field that prefers expertise and titles.

“When Hope Becomes a Hinderance” explores how Lived Experience workers are frequently valued for inspiration while their professional contributions are undermined or dismissed.

This presentation will challenge hope-only narratives and reframe Lived Experience as a legitimate discipline grounded in skill refinement, hard work, determination, mastery and ethical autonomy. It addresses a critical gap between the language of inclusion and the realities of practice.

Drawing on concepts of epistemic injustice, medicalised risk frameworks, and peer workforce literature, the presentation highlights how fear-based assumptions continue to shape engagement with Lived Experience workers. These dynamics are illustrated through a reflective case study of a pre-workshop “risk assessment” framed as safety, revealing the “baby vs bomb” analogy often imposed on lived experience professionals.

Key implications include the ongoing silencing of expertise, increased emotional labour, and the erosion of autonomy under the guise of care. The presentation concludes that hope alone is insufficient; meaningful inclusion requires trust, power-sharing, and recognition of Lived Experience as skilled, professional work. Participants are invited to reflect on their practices and consider integrity-based approaches that dismantle stigma while supporting genuine engagement.

Mana o te Tangata Trust is a kaupapa Māori, peer led mental health and addiction service grounded in the belief that when mana thrives, communities rise. Working alongside whānau across Horowhenua and Manawatū, the Trust supports wellbeing through culturally grounded and relational peer support delivered by people with lived experience.

Guided by the values of manaakitanga, whanaungatanga, tino rangatiratanga, kotahitanga, wairuatanga, and kaitiakitanga, the Trust creates spaces where people are seen, heard, and valued. Healing is understood as holistic and collective, connected to identity, culture, belonging, and hope.

This presentation draws on the Trust’s long term strategic framework, which prioritises culturally responsive psychosocial practice, Māori and lived experience leadership, and learning through co design and evaluation. The Trust works alongside whānau and partners to ensure services remain adaptive and values led.

Mana o te Tangata Trust contributes to learning networks by sharing insights from peer practice, co governance, and whānau centred service design. By centring lived experience and kaupapa Māori, the Trust supports reform that upholds dignity, inclusion, and collective wellbeing.

Lived experience governance plays a critical role in creating services that genuinely embody hope, inclusion, and connection—not only for the communities they serve, but for the people who lead and work within them. This presentation explores how lived experience (LEx) governance is designed, enacted, and sustained within a peer-owned organisation, offering a practical account of meaningful governance beyond policy or advisory structures.

Using a lived example of a peer organisation built on human rights and trauma-responsive principles, the presentation examines governance as more than oversight. It is a relational and ethical practice that protects lived experience values, redistributes power, and creates the conditions for belonging and hope to flourish. Recent governance research notes that “embedding lived experience at the governance level strengthens decision-making, accountability and organisational integrity” (Hodges et al., 2023, p. 8), positioning governance as a site of equitable power sharing rather than compliance.

The presentation reflects on the Lived Experience Governance Framework, showing how roles, authority, and accountability are structured to avoid co-option and remain true to guiding values and principles. The organisation is mapped against the framework toolkits, highlighting areas of alignment alongside “wobbly points” that require ongoing reflection and adaptation. As McAllister et al. (2022) notes, “Organisations that prioritise lived experience leadership foster culture, practices and policies that are inclusive, relational and trauma-informed illustrating how governance shapes workplace culture and workforce wellbeing".

Practical examples demonstrate the framework in everyday organisational life: deliberate use of lived experience language rather than clinical terminology; governance processes that foster inclusion and psychological safety for the workforce; and strategies for identifying and addressing psychosocial hazards such as emotional labour, vicarious trauma, and power imbalance. Governance thus sustains connection—between people, purpose, and practice—rather than remaining abstract.

The presentation also reflects honestly on successes and challenges, particularly as peer organisations grow within systems not designed for lived experience leadership. Maintaining hope and integrity while navigating funding, compliance, and professionalisation pressures remains critical. This aligns with contemporary recovery-oriented systems literature, which recognises that hope and connection are “produced through organisational culture, power-sharing and relational safety, rather than individual resilience alone” (Slade et al., 2023, p. 3).

Rather than presenting a fixed model, this session invites curiosity and shared learning by examining governance tensions openly. It will interest lived experience leaders, boards, peer organisations, and system partners seeking practical insights into approaches that actively illuminate hope, inclusion, and connection within organisations and the communities they serve.

This presentation explores the Start Court as a therapeutic court model offering meaningful and effective alternatives to traditional sentencing for individuals with mental health issues. The aim is to demonstrate how aligned, collaborative, and solution-focused frameworks can reduce recidivism while promoting recovery, hope, and community inclusion for people with mental health issues involved in the justice system.
Start Court diverts individuals away from custody by addressing the underlying and unmet needs that contribute to their offending behaviour. Through a multidisciplinary approach, legal matters are managed by the Start Court, while other agencies support the individuals’ wellbeing in a person-centred way. The sentencing decision is informed by individual’s engagement with the tailored supports, including supports and intervention for substance use, mental health and psychosocial issues.
A distinctive feature of the Start Court program is lived experience Peer Workers. They demonstrate the possibility of change and offer hope for recovery to individuals in the court. Outcomes from the program highlight strong graduation rates, reduced sentence outcomes, and improved connections with community-based supports. The presentation will demonstrate how therapeutic courts can build supportive and inclusive pathways out of the justice system for individuals with mental health issues, into sustained recovery and community connection.

These two Chinese characters together mean ‘CRISIS.’ Alone, they mean DANGER and OPPORTUNITY.
Years ago, a mental health crisis meant I became a long-stay hospital patient. I was in a very dark place without hope.
My children, my parents and my support workers all encouraged me to take the opportunity to reconnect with my strengths.

Through illuminating my strengths and gifts I found my hope and purpose to recover and to help others.
I became a supported employee in a community business of Flourish Australia where I gained job skills, connected with and even supported others.

Volunteering as a musician in a nursing home, using my four different languages to bond with residents in a familiar tongue, which is so important in aged care, I won a Volunteer of the Year Award in 2018.

Taking up ballroom dancing made me fit and nimble, culminating in the Dooley Dancesport Award in 2022.
Who would have thought my mental health crisis would have led me to realise so many strengths and take new opportunities? Having this hope for the future is the most important thing. My lived experience now can illuminate opportunities for others.