Lived Experience Advisors - Specialist Mental Health Services

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Lived Experience Advisors - Specialist Mental Health Services

Join the supportiveLived Experience Team

Personal experience as a consumer of mentalhealth service

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is firmly grounded in the principlesof Te Tiriti o Waitangi and is committed to building a health system thatserves all New Zealanders.

About the Role

Our Specialist Mental HealthServices are provided by a range of outpatient, inpatient, community-based andmobile services throughout Canterbury.

Specialist services include adultcommunity, adult acute, rehabilitation, child, adolescent and family (CAF),forensic, alcohol and drug, intellectually disabled persons' health, andothers.

We're looking for a Lived Experience Advisors to join ourSpecialist Mental Health Services Team, particularly in forensic, ID whanaulived experience, CALD, Pasifik and youth lived experience advisors.

About you

In this role, you will be responsible for :

Portfolios that amplify tangata whaiora and whanau perspectiveswithin governance, policy, and service design processes.

Identify and address systemic barriers to inclusion, access, andresponsiveness within mental health services.

Partner with clinical and operational leaders to co-developstrategies that promote lived experience leadership and accountability towhanau voice.

Contribute to strategic planning and policy development to ensurealignment with Te Whatu Ora values and national lived experienceframeworks.

Workin partnership with Maori and Pacific leaders, clinical advisors, and peernetworks to ensure lived experience perspectives contribute to culturallygrounded, holistic models of care.

Collaboratewith consumer, whanau, and peer support networks across Aotearoa to sharelearnings and strengthen regional lived experience advocacy.

Supportthe Director of Lived Experience to build cross-sector relationships withNGOs, iwi, and community-based organisations.

Providementorship and guidance to emerging peer and whanau leaders within Waitahaservices.

Contributeto workforce education and training by sharing lived experience narrativesthat foster empathy, anti-stigma, and human rights-based practice.

Supportthe development of resources, frameworks, and tools that embed serviceuser and whanau voice in everyday practice.

Your skills will include :

1. Lived Experience Leadership

Deep,reflective understanding of one's own lived experience of mental distress,addiction, or suicidality, and how that insight can inform systems change.

Abilityto draw on lived experience safely and purposefully to influencedecision-making, service design, and policy.

Capacityto hold space for multiple lived experience voices, recognising diversityacross culture, age, gender, neurodiversity, and pathways of recovery.

Demonstratedcommitment to recovery, resilience, and post-traumatic growth as guidingprinciples.

2. Advocacy and Systems Thinking

Provenability to identify structural inequities within mental health systems andadvocate for responsive, rights-based change.

Experiencecontributing to policy, quality improvement, or service developmentprocesses.

Strategicthinker who can navigate complex organisational environments and influenceat multiple levels.

Abilityto translate lived experience insight into actionable recommendations forgovernance and service improvement.

3. Cultural Competence and Te Ao Maori Alignment

Commitmentto upholding Te Tiriti o Waitangi as a foundation for equity andpartnership.

Understandingof Te Ao Maori values, tikanga, and concepts of oranga (such as wairua,hinengaro, tinana, and whanau).

Awarenessof how colonisation, racism, and intergenerational trauma influenceexperiences of distress and recovery.

Demonstratedability to engage respectfully with iwi, hapu, and Maori health leaders,and to elevate whanau voice in system-level spaces.

4. Relationship and Communication Skills

Skilledin building mana-enhancing relationships across clinical, managerial,community, and peer networks.

Excellentwritten and verbal communication, including the ability to represent livedexperience perspectives in governance and cross-sector forums.

Abilityto navigate challenging or sensitive discussions with diplomacy andcompassion.

Comfortablefacilitating wananga, hui, and co-design processes with diversestakeholders.

5. Collaboration and Teamwork

Workscollaboratively across disciplines to find shared purpose and solutions.

Bringsa partnership approach that values both clinical and lived expertise asequally valid.

Supportsand uplifts peers, whanau, and staff to strengthen collective capability.

Demonstratesadaptability, humility, and openness to learning.

Working at Health New Zealand

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is dedicated to ensuringexcellent healthcare for the people of New Zealand.

We embrace a workforce thatis diverse and inclusive so that we are better positioned to understand andservice our community.

We welcome applications from our diverse Maori,Pacific, disabled, and rainbow communities.

How to Apply

To apply please click "

apply now

• ."

Allapplications must be submitted through our online careers' portal by

10 th November

If you have any questions about the role, please contact NatalieGaunt at

We will review applications as received and may proceedwith the recruitment process, before the closing date of this advert.

WhilstHealth New Zealand is undergoing change, affected employees will be givenpreference and priority for this position.

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